Wheelinsticks

Tappen Zee Originally uploaded by knittingkim I finished in record time! I used about 9 ounces of my handspun, Nest Egg. I love the how soft it is. It will be a great layering piece for the fall.

TdF 2012 recap Originally uploaded by knittingkim The tour ends, but not without its bumps and crashes. Tacs on the road and acusations of doping has left a black cloud over the tour for me. I think it is scandalous the way people act just because of a race. Really? Get real. I go to work and live my life with all the typical stresses of life, they should, too. Okay, off the soapbox and on to the spinning. Oh the spinning we have have this year. I have a great fiber stash. My original intention was to spin for a sweater that I planned to knit during Ravellencis - another don't get me started topic. Well, I didn't get the fiber through the drumcarder in time. Frankly, I just couldn't make all that happen with moving just before the start of the tour. It's okay, I have plenty. Anyhoo, I spun a total of 2 pounds 6 ounces with a whopping total of 3355 yards. The types range from 2-ply lace, second from the left, all the way to aran weight, first one on the left. I am very p...

Granny stripe Originally uploaded by knittingkim I really still craft! I just finished this afgan. I love it. It's nice and roomy. I used 6 colors of I Love that Yarn from Hobby Lobby. Knit 180 stitches to start my chain and completed 44 stripes. Then used the wine color around the edge. size - 45 x 60

I hope everyone found a nice little place to visit and relax over the holidays. I did! I spent most of my winter break in my jammies getting crafty. I finished spinning up salad greens for a whooping 1950 yards of 3-ply heavy worsted weight. I need to do a little swatching to find out which sweater it will become. I'm shooting for Reinbeck or Flying Dales out of the book A Fine Fleece . I have plenty of yardage for each sweater, and the gauges are different on the sweaters. Time will tell. I also finished and blocked a Boneyard shawl. It's huge. The wingspan is a touch over 60 inches and the depth is 30 inches. I wore it the over day. It's perfect. Right now I am spinning my first yarn of the year. It's a blend of Cormo and Angora in a natural shade of Dove grey. I have no idea what it will become since I plan to n-ply it, and I think there is around 2 ounces in the bag. I spun the first half this morning. On the needles, I am finishing a pair of fingerless mitts ...

Weaver's guild sale 2011 Originally uploaded by knittingkim A few awesome finds for the weekend. There were lots of lovely shawls, knitted items, and woven scarves. I decided on these fibers. They look fun to spin and wear.

Lately, I have been on a gifting frenzy. My husband's niece is having her first baby. A boy. What better gift than a baseball blanket. This was super easy. Two pieces of fleece with strip cut and tied around the edges. A dear friend of mine has too many things going on during the month of her birthday. Mindy loves Halloween and gardening like nobody's business. I also know she has a thing for art yarn, so I mixed the ideas and came up with a tomato garden. This was my first attempt at making a shadow box using art yarn. Note to self, ya only need a little. It's cute though, and Mindy likes it. Really, that all that matters. I have also been involved in a few swaps. I am in two blanket square exchanges. That is kinda fun. It's a great way for me to get my crochet groove on. Another swap that was all kinds of fun was the Potato Chip Scarf swap. I had the best swap partner ever. Interestingly our scarves are in the same color family. Go figure. It's always fun to ...

Sunday Lawnguy and I took a small jaunt to Bellevue, IL. We got there a little humm 45 minutes early. The ranch is in the middle of a subdivision about 5 minutes for where I take Pepper to agility class. Anyhoo... The owner was just lovely. Even though we were so early she welcomed us with open arms and a tour around the place. First stop was the barn. Chickens a few, a rooster too, and one duck. Also, alpacas and llamas with their babies. Next, we hopped into the golf cart to go visit some of the girls in another pasture. We were armed with a bag of carrots. I went to give one to a pretty cocoa brown alpaca not knowing that you have to hold onto it tightly. Quickly I learned. Lawnguy learned another valuable lesson, alpacas spit if ignored when there are carrots involved. Yumm.. thanks! While we were out there, the owner yelled, "I have a new baby!" There in the center of several white alpacas was a newborn. She said that the baby had to have been born in the morni...