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Showing posts from 2009

Last Knit for 2009

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This is the last item to be completed for the year. I really love these. My handspun to start with. I love how the colorway's colors played out. The pattern is absolutely masterful. Quick and easy and the hem edging was not only easy, but because of the design element you can't see the hem at all. It looks like a herringbone trim on the inside. Fabulous! I am slogging my way through a new sweater for Lawn Guy. He picked out the pattern which I love. It's called Beagle. So far, so good. I am using cascade eco wool since husband wants this for shoveling snow; I want it to be plenty thick. Believe me it is. I am knitting this little number of 7's! Sleeves are finished, and the ribbing is done. I did convert the pattern to in the round and plan to steek the sleeves. I may also need to go down to 6's when I start the top since it's all Moss stitch. Time with tell. There is a lot of knitting to do between now and then.

A Little Spinning

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Very little as a matter of fact. But hey, life gets in the way. I only have a couple that I have spun recently. Oh but they are nice. First up is Rolling Hills. It BFL in a Spunky Club colorway. Very pretty. Sport weight which is nice since this is a weight that is harder for me to achieve. Next up is a birthday gift from the birthday before last. I wanted to spin a chunkier yarn so I can make a Thorpe. Hopefully this works well. I love the color. All oranges going to deep Burgundy red. Very fun. Broke the yarn once while plying. Not bad. It is very squishy!

A little Knitting comes to pass

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Not much on the home front as of late. Hanging out at home and knitting on a sweater for the hubster. There will be more to come of that soon. I have a few items from before the festivities that I wanted to share. First Dear Daughter asked for a hat. Oh a while ago. Like while I was still knitting husband's Striped Sweater. Same colors because she wanted a blue hat. It was suppose to be more of a beanie style, but daughter has the head the size of an egg, so it's a hat. That's okay; she asked for another in green. Hopefully I can work on this one today. Second, one of my dearest friend's also received a hat. Well I would say done when I gifted it to her, but it is finished now. Very pretty hat. I want to knit another. It's called Coldharbour by Wooly Wormhead. Lastly, I finished a KAL for the Basket Weave Cowl. It turned out just lovely. I used Fresco in a nice medium blue. Blocking this baby was a little tough. I forget how much stretching, tugging, and pulling the

Merry Christmas!

Just wanted to wish everyone a very merry Christmas. Hugs to all!

A Matter of Size

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I am glad I can knit for people because I obviously cannot knit for dogs. I finished Oreo's sweater thinking it was a little big, but fixable. Ah not so much. He literally kept walking through the neck on Saturday. The pattern is very stretchy compared to the last one. This one is so much too big it fits Charlie. Great! Two sweaters and the dog that needs it is still freezing his bum off. In case you looking for a comparing of sizes. Well...... What else is there to say.

Oreo

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She is making me wear this!

As the Wheel Turns...

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I know it sounds like lots of drama. Sorry, but no.... only spinning. Some lovely alpaca in a heavy fingeringweight. I love the color. I really love natural shades of fiber. I have no idea what will become of this. Something special because it was not fun spinning. Next up, Ribbons. This is Spunky Club's club fiber for October. The idea is to honor all of the causes in October, breast cancer, pink, alcohol, blue, and AIDS, red. I love how this turned out. I took all the of the lightest colors for 1 ply and the darker colors for the second and then put them together. I think it turned out rather neat.

Halfway to a coat

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Almost, well, halfway any way.

Baby its Cold Outside!

Nothing new in St. Louey! One weekend 60's, the next 20's. What can I say, it's flippin' cold. I am knitting as quickly as I can, another words, the pace of a snail on Oreo's coat. Hopefully by next weekend. Right now he is camped out in front of the heating vent. Sigh, poor doggie needs a coat!

Neck Warmers Go Around

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Yep that's about it. Lately if it goes around your neck, I might be knitting it. I love things that help keep my neck warm, and this year I have knit just a few. Delores Parks in Malabrigo Chunky - no idea on the colorway Neck Thingy in Malabrigo worsted - Stonechat Nobel Cowl in Cascade Cash Vera - Cream

$20 bag of fluff to Sweater

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Back in April, I went to a fiber festival and had an excellent time. It was also the day that Pepper came home with me. Pepper is adjusting great in the house. Outside the house around people not a problem, other dogs equal problems. He just snaps at any dog that gets near. Hopefully continuing agility will help him to learn. He is doing well in the different pieces of equipment for agility. The trainer thinks he will do well once he is more confident. Each week he gets better; he loves to run to the jumps. It's good for me too for a couple of good reasons; I am getting out and having fun which was a goal, and I am exercising in the process. Now, back to fluff. The bag of wool was a Shetland fleece clean and picked out. A lovely latte color. I hand carded around 1 1/2 pounds of fleece, spun into a 2-ply yarn, and dyed it to a lovely burnt orange color. From there, I knit it into a fabulous sweater. The pattern is Mr. Greenjeans which is an excellent pattern. Easy once you start. T

Turkey Day!!

Ah I live for the beginning of the holiday season. Don't know why because I hate shopping especially when the stores are crowded and people seem to have lost all reason of what is polite; yet still I love it. The days are colder, the skies a little cloudier puts me in the mood for snuggling on the couch with puppies galore, knitting, or reading. Happy Thanksgiving!

Frog Princess Sweater

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Corny I know, but yeah, it is nearly Halloween! I have been working on a little sweater set for DD's best friend's baby to be. Daughter's BFF is having a little girl, but the sweater could not be frilly at-all. No pink, no lace, no ribbons. Ah the powers of Ravelry. I had an idea that I wanted to knit a Baby Surprise jacket because I have never made it and oh is it adorable. Easy peasy. Knit in 2 weeks in Cannon's Simply Soft shadows. Hat 64 stitches knit flat. 6 rows of rib. Garter stitch for 6 inches. Decrease 2tog to end, knit the next row. Repeat the Decrease row once more. Cut yarn, slip through the remaining stitches and sew up the back.

Finished Stripes

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That's right! Lawn Guy's sweater is done, washed, and blocked! Now mind you, he is a big guy, so lots of yarn was used. I worked on this puppy starting at the beginning of spring until it was a little to warm to worry about him wearing it and put it a side for fall. Well, it's been rather chilly. Also, we are going out of town this weekend for a little outdoor activities. We decided that I needed to get this finished before we leave. Cool! I made it in plenty of time. Only problem is, I barely had this one soaking when he was calling and asking for another. Huh, sure I can do that. Another monster sweater before snow shoveling season. Sigh!

Strange Folk

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Saturday was a fantastic day for Strange Folk. Kara and I drove over to the east side early in the morning. There was lots to look at. We made friends with a few Llamas. So cute they are. There were vendors and people everywhere. Lots to see from knitted items to pendents made of recycled watches. Very cool. I bought one, but no picture because the little bugger won't play fair. I bought an enormous cup that I just fell in love with. Of course we visited our famous and fabulous indie dyer, Dyeabolical. I bought some slubby cotton yarn in a fantastic shade of purple that I have had my eye on for a while. Kara and I had a brat a piece, kettle corn, and searched the grounds for the infamous, but not there, funnel cakes. Total suck! What's a fair without funnel cake? Anyhoo, we had enough and drove back just in time to be on Popular bridge when the sky decided to open up. Neither of us liked that idea in least. Fortunately we made it home safe and sound.

Blah, blah, blah

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Just a quickie. I need to do some more work for the job. Ugh! Here's the finished product of Zombie. Oh my, so pretty. Also, looky a new toy!

Comings and Goings

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Well I didn't fall off the end of the earth, but it feels like it. Just busy! But enough whining about the day job, on to what is new. My relationship with yarn has been a little off. Well off a whole lot! PI shawl, declared a natural disaster along with a pair of socks and a restart of a scarf. So since my knitting mojo left the building for what seems like most of summer, I thought I'd hunt it down. Last weekend I spent time just looking through magazines, books, my stash, and lots of gauge swatching. Yes, me a swatcher! I have spent a great deal of time ripping and frankly my ego just can't take it. It cried uncle after the scarf attack. Not so bad though. I seem to be in the spirit of knitting again. Hooray! I finished a scarf a while back ago. It turned out lovely. A very fast knit. Also, I knit Porom over the week. Just took it off the needles this morning. Another cute and fast knit. This weekend has been productive considering that I caught a bug from the kids. I m

Happy New Year!

Well at least for school prone peoples! Happy new year was the theme of the day. Seeing the bright and cheerful faces of those that felt right at home to the pale looking, boot shaking newbies. I place myself in the later. It makes it tough when the teacher's new. Nothing like an I don't know from your teacher to make you feel completely out of the loop. Overall the kids were happy to be back at school. No real grumbling, that will come later! The day went extremely fast until I went to leave the building. An onslaught of the mother of all downpours. Sigh, I literally stood at the front door waiting for a break for over 30 minutes. Hoping for a better tomorrow!

Whorlwind

Yep that's all I can call the last few days. They went by as fast as they could. New school is very friendly which is a plus. Meetings every day are never fun and there never is enough time no matter when I start. Needless to say I will be reading and planning this weekend. Home life is going well. The steps have been fixed and the new entrance to the laundry room is also done. DD's bed, living room furniture, and our bedroom furniture all present and accounted for. Now I'm just waiting for the mattress to come. Can't wait. At this point I could just fall asleep. 10-12 hour days for three days in a row takes a toll on the girl. Hopefully more to come maybe even some knitting content!

Wedding Gift ? Check!

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Well I have been working my little fingers off among the chaos of home renovations and just plain summer, but the afghan is finished. I decided today that I was just going to have to bind off and knit the border and be done with it. Therefore it is not as big as I would have liked, but it will do. Its still a little damp, but here it is!

Unpacked Ready or Not....

I went to my new school on Thursday to get my things unpacked and help set the room up. I met lots of staff, but I couldn't tell ya any of thier names. I know this is the way of a new builing. My supplies from the district have not arrived, nor the text books, nor do I know my caseload yet. Sigh. A week to school offical now and some of these things are essential. After setting things up we went to happy hour at Chevy's. I never do well at these things and I usually avoid them, but I felt I should go and meet people. Like most things when I don't know anyone I ate and drank a little until a decent time passed and said my goodbyes. Hopefully once the year gets rolling things will fall into place. Gotta keep it positive or it can be a very long year.

Update

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Dear Blog, I know I been a little distant, but hey, it's summer! Yeah right, I know I managed to blog last summer. Arguing with myself is futile and looks a little childish wouldn't ya say. Anyhoo,Pepper is getting huge or at least way bigger than he was as a puppy. He loves to sleep on his back and will lay on another dog to get in that position. He weighs 21 pounds now at 6 months. Lawn guy said last night, He is a really pretty dog. I'm glad his hair is getting fuller. Wow that is saying a lot. On the fiber front. I am still mainly knitting on the Modern Day Log Cabin. I'm on block 5 finally. I did get a reprieve though. Since neither hubby or I can attend due to work conflicts, I don't have to get it finished by the second week of August. I am really glad because I love the pattern and it is going well, but it does take a long time. Right now it's measuring 30 x 40 with the 4 blocks done. I think by the time I do all of it, or run out of yarn, I'm think

Another Birthday Passes By

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The only thing I really dislike about my birthday is that it is basically the call to end summer vacation. Another week and the school starts back. Sigh. Fortunately I have cool friends and family to celebrate the B-day. My very good hearted friends went with me to make earrings (girly, I know), but I love earrings. I just hate buying them. Maybe this way I'll actually have earrings that I really like. Anyhoo, I drug Mindy, Kara, Shannon, and lovely dear daughter to Lady Bug Beads. The store was great. I have been there before and didn't have the best experience, but I wanted to give them another shot. They had another girl come in just in case we needed an extra hand. However, the woman that helped us was absolutely fantastic! She gave us help in the finer points, made daughter's earring cause she does not have any crafty genes, and put together both of my pairs since I boshed the one I was making up. After playing in the bead shop, we went to eat at the Roadhouse. Thank G

From Fluff to Stuff

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I'm done, I'm done, I'm done! I finished carding, spinning, and dyeing my Shetland fleece. I started this puppy on the 4th of July and dyed today. Oh my, that was interestingly scary. I wanted a burnt orange with some subtle tones in there. I knew I would not get just one color because the fiber went from blonde, latte, and milk chocolaty brown. Gorgeous stuff. I have learned a lot working through the process. Carding gets easier with practice, kinda like all the rest of the fiber world. I love spinning the rollags because there so quick. The hard part was getting the amount of fiber onto the bobbins consistently in weight and in diameter. Overall, the thinness of the ply was pretty consistent. Point for me. Now I need to find a cute pattern for it. I have 1358 yards in 3-plied worsted weight, so a good amount of mileage for my $20 bag!

Dishrag Medley

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Lawn Guy has a niece that's getting married in August, so I have been working on a shower gift, and the wedding gift that I just put on needles. Needless to say, all other knitting will be on hold until then. Dishcloths are fun to do. Practicing new stitches that is just slightly over a swatch size gives ya something in the end. There are fairly quick to make to boot. Ballband, seed stitch, Bee stitch, garter stitch, basketweave Tomorrow spinning and lots of it!

And the Race is on....

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That's right it's the start of the Tour de France, and the tour de fleece competition. I missed most of yesterday's due to the fact that only one station is carrying the coverage and of course I don't have that station in my package. Sigh. Hubby, on the other hand, called our provider and ungraded so I could watch it. Sweet truly he is. It just pisses me off to no end that we had to do that. Anyway, I really love watching the tour even though I don't get much spinning done while I'm watching due to the fact that a)I love the scenery and b)I get caught up in the action. Any ways, I have been working on some spinning and knitting some gifts for a niece that is getting married in August. The mauve color in the middle is superwash merino. The Romney is yellowish purples is called Pansy. A very fitting name, and the last is Shetland called Selfish. All are singles of different weights. Pretty. I think I'll just leave them on the desk and pet them for awhile.

What in FO?

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Done!

What? It's Hot!

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Good ol' St. Louie. Who needs a summer to start off small? Like usual, Let's see if we can fry dinner on the sidewalk. Needless to say with the soaring temperatures and the heat indexes over 100 for most of the week, there has been a lot of inside activities. The doggies want to play outside, and they kinda look at me like really, do we have to come in? Yeah, it's hot. I have been continuing to work on a couple of items. The dratted socks that are starting to near the finish line. Not that I don't love the colors, it's just they seem to be taking forever. Anyhoo, they should be coming off the needles in the next couple of days. My Pi shawl is through tier 2, but I'm afraid I need to rethink this. I have only used about 2/3 of one ball. Hmm, I think not. I doubt it will be a pi shawl in the end. Looking for a different pattern. I love the reddish orange color, and I want to do it justice. Sigh, it might be a while before I consider that feat. As far as spinning g