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Showing posts from 2008

Knits and Spins 2008

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Wow! There's a lot! Spinning just gets better! The newest photos are first down to the oldest.

Probably the Last FO 2008 edition!

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Thanks for my friend Kara, I picture of these on. Laying flat just doesn't do them any justice! I have about 6 more onces of my corriedale to spin and I'll be finished spinning. I picked the Hooded Pullover from Vogue Fall of 2008. It must be a cable thing!

Year End or Near Enough to Count

I can't believe the year is near the end. 2 days to be exact! I started looking at my resolutions for this past year. Gosh do I suck at keeping resolutions! Plans for the first items knit of 2008 - 1. Secret project - What was this anyway? 2. Generic Socks - done 3. Hemlock Ring Blanket - done 4. Neck Warmer - done 3 out 4 done! No idea what the hell the secret project was. Anyone know? Yarn Diet: Knitting from stash - yeah right! Try in 2009! Need a better plan for sure! In addition to the fiber plans. I had few more plans that I wanted to try to work on this year. Here they were: 1. Work on my sewing techniques by making 2 outfits that fit well - 2 skirts are cut out. Note to self - make these for spring! 2. Spin more fiber - Now here's a task a really settled into. I would approximate that I have spun about 5 pounds of fiber for various reasons. Some for birthdays and becauses. I also made the following items out of my hand spun: fingerless gloves, 2 scarves, a vest, an ear

Harvest Mittens Finally!

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I love these. Can I tell ya, these were not easy to do. If you read the previous post about these, you already know. Unfortunatley, the second mitt started out really fast. I was nearly half way through when I realize I did the exact same thing as the other. Well, at least I figured out how to fix it without going all the way back to the cuff. I just went down to the first bobble. This saved me about 8 additonal rows. Then, picked up and started from the leftside of the chart, and flipped the right and left crosses and off I went. The second one is the right mitt. It's much better then the first if you really look. I think they are just amazing either way. There is so much detail in the design that I did not notice until I was looking at them while they were drying. They are still a little wet in the picture. Here's the specs: Harvest Mittens (Vogue Knitting Fall 2008) size 8 dpn's Cascade 220 Heathers (I did not even use the whole skein) in a grey colorway Thanks for looki

Merry Christmas!!

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Update on WIP’s

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As you can see the Noro scarf is still going. I decided that I wanted it to be narrower, so I restarted it. I am nearly through the first 2 balls and it’s about 3 feet. I just love watching the color changes, and it is great for TV. It’s mindless, just knit and purl, and repeat. Easy! I think it will nice and cozy to wrap around a couple of times. Harvest Mittens – One done, one to go! These are a wonderful to knit. I love the look of cables. This is my “sit down and knit” nice challenge to do. The first one fits great. I have a start on the second. Once I get past the cuff, then I only have cabling on the back. The pattern itself isn’t too bad. I am still working out the how to go left verses right. The bobbles were not bad at all to knit. Love the details! After I finish both and block them, I get a better picture of the cables with my hands in them.

Knit forward, Rip Back, Repeat

So, I have been working on the Harvest Mittens. I have the prettiest Cascade's charcoal grey that I am using. I started with 6's and made the cuff. We won't discuss how many rips that was. I tried it on and it was way too tight. I ripped it back and started on 7's. No, still too small. Rats!@! Okay, at least am getting some highly quality practice on cables. Restart on 8's. I got the right size finally! I knit the first bobble, and it turned out great. Problem, the bobbles line up on the outside of the back of the hand which was working okay, but unless I cut off my thumb and reattach by my pinky, this was not going to work. Why you ask, I am left-handed. I start charts on the left side instead of the right, but I forgot to flip the directions for the thumb gusset. Fortunately, not all is lost. I made a mistake at the beginning of the second chart that will now get fixed. Good thing Cascade is like iron!

Note to Self

Work on a pair of mittens! It cold outside!

Home Today!

Well what a morning. Sometime at 4:30ish the stupid cat decides that trying snack on the bird was a great idea. Crash! Of course. I rush upstairs and try to close of the office door because Skippy is out and the bird cage is in pieces. DD came in to help. I got a hold of Skippy, who was freaking out so badly she was nipping me every chance she got. I let go when she felt it necessary to sink her beak into my thumb. I let go and after a few more excruciating moments she did too! All of her blood feathers were gone from the trauma, so no flying, but she is a great escape artist – running is her specialty! After a few more minutes of bending pices and putting her cage back together, we finally managed to get her in her cage. I think she is fine. She is pretty pissy when you get by her cage.   Next check weather and school closings. No, I did not expect to be closed anyway. Started shower and Lawn Guy says never mind! You're kidding! After the snow chain, I decided to take a little nap

Crappy Day

What can I say, the day started out crappy. It's never a good thing to watch the clock all night along, and keep getting up to let out dogs because they had a little too much rawhide. I get to work a half hour before a meeting. Print stuff, copy stuff, and off I go to said meeting. Long meeting over, and I run to reading class to try to teach. I do say try because that was about it. Anyway, I fell down the rabbit hole of extremely crabby when I yelled at one of mt students. Yes, the little darling is an pain in the arse, but somewhere its written down - I have never seen it, but I am sure it's there - making kids teary eyed because you're crabby is just not okay. Day continues on, and continues to be crappy. I should be writing the report from the meeting instead of complaining, but this is so much more productive.

Spinning to the Beat!

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I bought this lovely Corriedale back at the beginning of September in order to work on a Spin-along with a group a ravelry. Needless to say I have been neglectful of the wool. I have been spinning, a lot of spinning with others. Now, I feel like I need to knuckle down and get going. I want to make the Braided Pullover from Interweave Fall 2008. It's prefect for the weight of the yarn that I am spinning. I have 2 pounds of this. Right now I have about 8 ounces spun. As you do the math, oh hell yeah I still have a ton to do! So, I need to put a plan into motion! I am shooting for 4 oz a day on the weekend and another 4 during the week. That's a total of 12 ounces a week. If I can mange that I should have everything spun in 2 weeks and plied in three. Then, I'll need to dye it and start in with the needles. I might be able to have this finish by the end of January!?!

Jumping on the Band Wagon TOO!

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Like several of my knitter friends and Ravelry comrades! My version is with Noro Silk Garden colorways 279 and 282. Gotta keep clicking!

Winter Chaser

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This is prefect for today. A pretty around the neck to chase off the frosty flakes! can you believe there is snow today!

Happy Turkey Day

I wanted to wish everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving. Hopefully by now you have ate your fill of Turkey and stuff and are considering that second helping of pie!

A New Toy

Shush!! This is supposed to be a Christmas present, but came a little early due to my old computer deciding that the letter I is not in the dictionary. Do you have any idea just how hard it is to type anything without using the letter I. Look at what I have typed so far, 17 I's. I'm come on! Needless to say I got a new computer. So far I am really enjoying it. It's amazing to me just how fast technology changes. This thing's hard drive is HUGE!!!!! Not to mention the battery life has also improved. Thanks goodness! It's hard to do anything on a laptop if you have to plug it in and recharge it every hour to two hours. I'm still playing with all of the new fangled things to more to come later!

Heading Down Broad Street!

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I finished them! I really struggled with getting the mittens just right. I knit the first one and started the second. Ripped the first one down to the cuff to redo the thumb gusset since I made the second glove just like the first. Oi, frogging is really getting to be my best friend. The cap was a little fiddly to do, but worth it in the end. They fit wonderful and I am quite pleased!

Week One for Buster

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Hi all! What a week it has been. So far the dogs are really starting to get along. They are starting to sleep closer together. The first few days, Charlie would not have much to do with the puppy as long as it was near me. He doesn't share Mom very well at all! With anybody! Now that it has been a week things are looking up. They are all sleeping in a puppy pile in the middle of the bed at night. Poor lawn guy, he never gets me to myself! His fault since he wanted another doggy! As far as potty training, its going fairly well. Buster goes out easily enough and does his business there. Hopefully with a few upcoming days of someone being home all day things will continue in the right direction. They love to chase each other all over the house. It does not matter whose stuff its suppose to belong to as the cat will testify to!

A Day for Buster

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I wanted to introduce you to the new friend in the house. Buster! Yes, he is going to be absolutely huge! He is three months old and take a long that those paws! He already weighs 27 pounds, so he'll be a big boy. So far his older brothers are getting use to him. Here's a few pictures of the gang! Oreo Oreo likes to attack with his butt! The boys at play! Another one that loves playing in the cat house! I'm going to be a touch on the fiesty side!

Over The Hump

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Happy Monday! My knitting lately feels like I am spinning my wheels! I have three projects on needles, and I felt like I was stalling out on all three. This weekend I finally made some decent progress. Now, for those of you that know me would say I knit fast. I think I knit at a moderate speed, but lately no so much. Of course 2 of the projects I had to rip back, and clearly that makes things slow down. On Friday night, I worked on my Morning Surf scarf. This is turning out to be so pretty! It is my fingering weight yarn, knit on #3's. I have started on the second ball, and knitting away! Next up, Feburary Lady! Another frogger! I put it on Sunday and I am finished with the garter and ready to start the gull lace pattern. Now because I thought I still had a LOT left to do on Lady, I didn't bring my pattern to knitting. Not the best plan, but another project to work on was in the wings. Of course I didn't have that pattern either, but I figured out how many to cast on for t

Weaver's Acquisition Sale

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So last week I went to the Weaver's Guild sale. This was the first time I went. All I can say is "cool." First it was nice to see what others' do with their supply of entertainment. I seen lots of jewelry, stuffed animals, dish clothes, and other pretty things. It was nice to see people selling their goods at a price that showed that they value handmade. The prices were not out of touch by any means, just a fair price for the work involved. People were friendly and there were people exhibiting their crafts too. Rachel was there, spinning away. She was spinning this absolutely gorgeous green silk and she had another purply color that I took home with me. I have starting spinning it and oh my goodness is it fun to spin! I also bought a good variety of colors! The wine color and the greenish yellow are both merino and silk. The black is a lovely alpaca, and the white is cormo and angora blend. Needless to say lots of fun in a bag! I just finished spinning this roving fro

Fall Back

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I have been up to much lately. I do love the extra hour of relaxation in the Fall. I love the set the clock back after I get up. Some how I feel like I gain an extra hour to do whatever pleases me. Today, just relaxing and hanging out is enough. I did get a picture of the felted hat. I really like the way it turned out. It's based off the Republic Hat. I think the big button sets it off. Hopefully, the recipient will be pleased. I also have a good portion of one of the Broad street mittens completed. I still need to finish the cap for the fingers. They fit really well. I have done a few adjustments, but nothing to really make note of.

Ho Hum

I don't have much to say as of late. I been really busy with work related goodies, so not much on the knitting front. I finished a hat for a friend a couple of weeks ago and its finally drying after I felted it. I have another hunting hat on needles that is sadly going slow, but I should finish it today. I can't spin either,ugh! I have ran out of bobbins and I am waiting patiently for my tensioned lazy kate, so I can do my plying. More later.

Life's Rough

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Need I say more?

Yeah for Saturdays

I love Saturdays. Of all of the days of the week, Saturday is my favorite. 1. I get to sleep in 2. I can stay in my jammies, drinking coffee, and surfing the net, all morning 3. The puppies get their weekend dose of mom and playing 4. My all-time favorite, pick activities that I want to do!! Examples include knitting, spinning, and reading, and a little TV What your favorite day?

For Others

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Whew time is a flying! I swear this school year is off to a flying start. Now that we are in the mitts of IEP meetings, I think I am gonna die. I have 3 this week, possibly 4 plus parent/teacher conferences. I will be looking forward to going to the cabin with the girls to celebrate Mindy's last weekend of being single. I finally picked a pattern for the weekend, now I have to buy some yarn. Oh the shame of going to a yarn shop - yeah right, do ya know me? I'll be the one with handfuls trying to decide what I can't live without. The only plus is that I am at my favorite LYS, Knitorious, every Wednesday! This means I can oogle and ahh every week. There are 2 patterns out there that I really want to knit. The first one is the one for the KAL at the cabin. The Broad Street Mittens. You can find that one on knitty.com. The other is a scarf called October is for Spinners and it has a great design including a big spider at the bottom of one edge. Check them out! I can't wait

A Little of This and a Little of That

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I actually was able to play with my fiber for a part of my weekend. After last weekend of cleaning, the only thing I wanted to clean was my spinning wheel. So, Molly got a nice hub down and some new oil. A couple of weeks ago some friends and I got together for an evening of dinning and dyeing. Kathy let me spin up her fiber after the day. I just finished it up this weekend. It's just lovely. It's fun to just spin for the color once and a while and this turned out amazing! Hopefully she will have enough yarn to make a nice hat. Next, I spent a little time getting started on my spin for a sweater kal. This is really going to be nice. I love the way natural colored fleece looks when it's done up. I have only spun about an ounce and I have way more to go. Finally, I found a nice shawl pattern to use for my Violets. Everyone keeps telling how much this looks like Noro, and low and behold I found the Simple, yet Effective shawl. This will be a quick knit, and I think the colors

Halfway to Finished

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Last weekend I spent the majority of Saturday cleaning up, laundry for 2 walk in closets, and painting the bedroom. I love the color. DH says it's orange and he learn to like it. Personally, I love the earthy feel of the room. Eventually, the will be a large bookcase and a doll case on the other wall, and doors for the closets. For now it's just nice to be back my own bed and not on the floor! I did a little bit of spinning in the last couple of weeks too. The first one is a sample of Teeswater that I received with the white Teeswater fleece. I love the natural colors that it spun up to. Eventually, this will become coasters for the den. The other is a sample of Corriedale that I will be using for a sweater that I am spinning. I think it turned out really nice. It's pretty soft, but still firm enough to make a nice wearing sweater. The weather is nice and cool this weekend. I think fall is in the air!

A Visit to the Frog Pond

This weekend has been full of visiting the pond. About a week ago I had a dip with frogging my Morning Scarf. It's beautiful, but I was going to run out of yarn before it really had a chance to make it. I restarted it with fewer stitches and it's going pretty well. The second dip was my poor February Lady Sweater. I heard that the sizing runs on the bigger side and I was already making it with extra positive ease, so off it went! Lastly, I signed up for the Mystery Shawl a few weeks back. Then, I decided that I didn't think I would like the design. Well, clue 2 came out Friday and I can't believe people are already finished with the second clue. Pretty! Oooh, I think I'll give it a try. Cast on, three rows in and I can't fix a mistake. Maybe I'll put that on hold and think about it. The only good news I have is the bedroom is at least done enough that we can sleep in there. The hubby and I have been sleeping on the floor off and on for a couple of weeks whil

Fibers A Ready

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This 2lb ball of corriedale and a couple of 4 oz to add some color will become my first handspun sweater. Time will tell what I decide to knit, but the plan for now is a colorwork yoke of Zimmerman style or the Tangled Yoke Sweater. More to come.

Just in a Mood

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I have been in a not so nice mood for more than a week and just can't seem to improve it. My job is always stressful at the beginning of the year, but this year I just can't seem to get organized. I feel like a hamster on the exercise wheel going around and around. I keep telling myself I'll catch up and not to take too much stuff home because then I don't want to do it. I go to work early enough. I am there before 7 and most days I don't leave until 3:15 and still work another hour or two almost every evening, plus the weekend. I know I should not be complaining. I realize that it doesn't sound too bad, but then there's the actual teaching of students with high needs, and oh my, the parents. They are involved and in teachers faces. I had a another conversation about passing time. I thought 3 minutes was the general rule. I know that's what I had in high school and I think most of us survived getting from place to place. It does stress kids out, but they

Sticks & Wheels Weekend

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What a nice weekend St. Louis is having. I was suppose to be out of town in Bethel for the Sheep and Wool Festival, but obviously I didn't make it. Lawn Guy has a freind who is finishing our bedroom this weekend. We have finished every room in the house including gutting almost every wall, built two rooms downstairs, and completely re-did the bath in the last ten years. Our room, well, we have ran out of "want to." The drywall has been up and there are a few spots that need dry wall, mud and paint. Problem is, just don't wanna. It's a a lot of mudding and taping and I suck at that. Any hoo, the guy thought he would be finished by the weekend except paint, however, I threw a monkey wench into the works by saying I wanted one whole wall made into a built-in bookcase. I have A LOT of books! Needless to say I am paying for the additional work and materials. All in all it will be worth it when its finished. I already have plans for a nook in the hall off the laundry ro

Leftovers 2

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I finished it up on Thursday night. This was a fast knit. It's longer than I would like it to be, but it's nice. The pattern was super easy and well written. I have enough leftovers (hehe! that's fun to say, since it's the name) to make a scarf and maybe a hat. Warming up the needles for the one row scarf! I can't wait to see how the colors change on this! Oh! Since most of my summer has been dedicated to redoing the backyard, here it is all finished!

Handspun Leftovers Part 1

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Ravelympics is half way over. I can't believe how many people are finished with their projects. I am very pleased with the way this vest is turning out. This is my first attempt of doing a fairly big project with my hand spun. The blue is Knit Picks Wool of the Andes and the variegated is my handspun in the colorway Dog River. The colors work so well together and overall the vest looks good to me. I still need to pick up stitches for the v-neck and the sleeves, but that won't take much time to do. I sat down yesterday after I finished the left side front and wove the ends in. I do say I am glad I did it then because there were a lot of ends! Hopefully, I can have pictures of the completed version all washed and blocked by the end of the week.

HHHH Swap Package Arrival!

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OOOhhhhh! What a surprise I had waiting for me when I got home from work. Its here! Lots of fiber top play with. eserelda from Ravelry sent me a lovely package. First some BFL from Spunky Electric in the Thunderstorm colorway. That will be a lovely hat to keep my head warm during December when I have bus duty. I hate, hate to be cold. She also gave my another Spunky Electric fiber, 4oz of corriedale called Blue Moon. Love blues! Can't wait to spin it up! The other one with the yellows and greens is from the Yarn Yard. It is so soft! Then, there's treats! Talk about spoiled! Three kinds of tea and some chocolates! Thanks Claudia! Guess what I want to spend a little quiet time with?

Meet Skippy

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Mindy meet Skippy, Skippy meet your viewers! Skippy is a 15 year old Cockatiel. She is a little miffed at me for waking her, but she loves her new room.

Room Swap Continued

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The rooms have finally been moved and rearranged completely. DD's room is full of posters and other stuff. I wonder why she felt the need to paint it because you can't hardly see the walls. She likes it even though I think it is cramped. Continuing on, here's the new office space. Its nice and comfy. The dogs don't really like it, but the bird is loving the company and the fact that the cat doesn't seem to bother her here. Of course, I don't think she is easy to reach from her spot in the room. See the stack of files there. Yeah that's what I get to read through this weekend and get familiar with a new reading program for this year. The files are for my kiddos that I don't see until September for another job. I still haven't seen the ones for this year for my day kids. Only, five days before school starts and haven't read a thing for those guys. Some exceptionally long days and nights are in my future.

A Quickie

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I finished the wedding stole for Mindy's Wedding. It turned out wonderful. Still needs a little tugging to get in shaped, but that will be the easy part. The pattern was very easy and fairly quick to knit.

Moving Days????

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Its been a long few days. One's moving out. DS is finally moved in with his dad. Hopefully they won't kill each other and hopefully dad can influence DS on the means of growing up. Second, moving rooms. DD decided to take her brother's old room. This is good, but the room needed some repairs and repainting. DD picked out I swear floresant green and I nearly died gasping and trying to sway the poor child in something that would not burn out her retinas! Case in point its still green, as a matter of fact Kermit Green. Lawn Guy and I were painting walls and repairing some plaster on the ceiling and even the poor dogs looked green by the end of the ordeal. She's moved in well sort of. Every thing is in her room, but not organized. Lastly the move of the office. Two desks, 2 chairs, 2 computers and other odds and ends. Not the mention moving cable wires for internet and satelette. The office is moved and there will be more redecorating to do in there in the future. Hopefully