Needles and Wool

Finished in time!

This is a very quick post just to show you that I finished my shawl in time. It is 9:30 p.m. on the night before I leave and I am still doing laundry and just starting to pack. I do this every time I travel. And every time I do it I swear I will never do it again, and yet I do. Go figure.

I am pleased with the shawl although I wished it covered my arms a tad more. But maybe this is how shawls are suppose to be. I don't know... I am not normally a shawl type person. So why did I insist on finishing a shawl for this trip? Beats me. On the other hand, I ordered the makings for a Charlottes Web shawl, so I must be on my way to becoming a shawl type person. I got my Koigu from Matt at Threadbear and can't wait to see them in person. None of the yarn shops around here have much of a selection of Koigu so I thought going with Threadbear would be my best bet. You can't beat telling him what you do and don't like in colors and have pictures of hand selected color choices arrive in your mailbox. There is a bit of a wait but well worth it in my opinion if your LYS's don't have much to pick from.

Well I am off.... have an awesome weekend and I'll see you next week.
Happy Knitting!

Schedules

Not much new here. Frantically trying to finish my shawl before I leave... almost done and only 2 days left....and I still have to block it...ugh... panic mode. I even skipped working out tonight to work on it but felt guilty all night that I didn't go. It was my scheduled day! Yes I am anal. I thought you all had figured that out by now.

Plus I had to post something so my calendar over there on the right didn't look so scheduled...like I only post on Mondays, Thursday, and Saturdays. Although it sure looks like that is what I do... I don't know why it worked out that way this month. Anyway it is bugging me so I am posting to mess it up. Yes, I can be strange.... but I hid it pretty well until this post I think.

Happy Knitting!

Sheep & Wool Festival

It was a beautiful day for the Sheep & Wool Festival. You couldn't have asked for better weather. I snapped a few pictures to show you some of the things happening there today. I made most of them pop-ups so it wouldn't take 2 years for the page to load and you didn't have to look at them if you weren't interested. :)

There were sheep getting haircuts. I think the guy said that this one shearing was about 2 sweaters worth. The sheep is much thinner looking than before! Here is a tiny black lamb. It was sooooo cute! I wish I could have taken it home with me!

There were llamas and alpacas too. I wouldn't mind having a few alpacas to go along with my sheep that I don't own yet either. They also had big fluffy bunnys which I thought were angora but forgot to ask and oxen pulled hayrides too that seemed to be pretty popular with the kids there.

This woman is showing how to dye yarn with indigo. There were lots of spinning wheels and it took everything I had in me not to buy one this year. I just can't afford one right now. I spent most of my time though today watching people spin on them and learning about the different brands. I figured that when I can afford one I will at least be a little more knowledgeable about them. And of course, there was tons of fiber which seemed to be selling pretty well.

So this is what I got today. I got 2 skeins of 50% llama and 50% silk blend that is taupe and natural. It feels good enough to eat.....well almost.

One skein of the most gorgeous red hand spun and hand dyed merino. The picture does not do this justice at all.

Some very pretty beaded stich markers.

A hand woven red alpaca scarf for my Mom for Christmas.

And lastly, a little toy alpaca just cuz it was cute. haha

Phew! And that was my day. I thought I showed great restraint! Sorry for all the pictures if you are on dial-up.

Happy Knitting!

Thursday News

What a hectic week this has been. I am behind in everything but the good news is.... tomorrow is Friday! Yipee!

The knitting guild I went to Tuesday night was a good experience. I am glad I found it and checked it out and will definitely go back next month. They were selling raffle tickets in the beginning for a wrapped up knitting related prize, so I took a shot for $5. Then they let me pick the ticket since I was new. I said they shouldn't let me pick because I was going to pick my own ticket and guess what I did? haha It is Glace, Chinchilla and some mohair all in natural. This will make a pretty something or another.

Everyone was making booties or hats for preemies at a local hospital. I didn't quite finish my booties so I will have to hand them in next month. They also were taking names for a workshop with Candace Eisner Strick that I signed up for. The morning will be 25 Tricks of the Trade and the afternoon will cover how to make the perfect hem and the perfect neckline. Sounded interesting to me. All in all it was a pretty good night.

I took a picture of my shawl in progress. I decided to just concentrate on the shawl since I was pretty sure I couldn't finish both projects for my trip. This way, I at least have a chance to have one finished in time rather than none.

I like the way Suede looks knitted up quite a bit but I don't like working with it. It snags on everything. Actually, it almost catches on nothing. I don't normally think my hands are very rough. I have the occasional hang nail and such but this yarns finds snags on my hands I didn't even know I had. Would I knit with it again? Probably.... because I like the way it knits up more than I hate how easy it catches on everything. I just thought I would warn you.

Lastly I just wanted to share this link I saw on one of the lists the other day. It is a nice site with some great tips and techniques. Check it out if you get a minute.

Happy Knitting!

The yarn that wasn't

Do you remember a post I made a while ago about how I always read about how people score great yarn at the thrift store and I can't figure out how they do it? I usually check out my local one every month or so hoping to fall upon a big pile of wonderful wool but it never happens. All I ever see there is a lonely skein or two of some dirty smelly acrylic. Well I thought about stopping in on Saturday but just never got around to it.

When I got up on Sunday morning, I started reading my Knitlist Digest and what do I see but a post from someone in another state that has a daughter here in Rockville, Connecticut, one town over from where I live and she says in the post that her daughter saw this huge amount of Reynolds Lopi in the thrift store for $.59 a skein. Arghhhhh! The thrift store is not open on Sunday either. I whined to dh all day about how I wished I had went there on Saturday like I had planned. I also knew that by the time I got out of work on Monday it would be all gone....which it was. Phooey!

I am going to my first guild meeting tomorrow night and am looking forward to that. I am curious to see exactly what happens in a guild meeting. All I have to go by is the SnB meetings I have been to. Shore Thing and the shawl are still coming along. I am toying with making a felted tote bag when I am done with them. Maybe....

Happy Knitting!

Finished Hooded Sweater

Well I finally finished it. I am pretty damn happy about it too. I am not happy with how it came out though. I don't think the hood is going to fit a child size head comfortably but I don't have a kid size head handy to try it out. It can still be worn without the hood on though. (I think) I should rip it out and redo it but I am not going to because I really don't like it anymore and just want it to be over and forget about it and move on. Kind of like a root canal. I will mail it off this week.

Definitely not my best work.

I am plugging away on the shawl and Shore Thing and enjoying the most perfect weather we are finally having. I hope your weather and weekend is awesome too!

Happy Knitting!

Howdy!

Geez I have been bad about updating lately. I either can't find the time these days or I don't have anything worth blogging about. I went to the weekly snb last night. It was a smaller crowd than usual but still nice. Erica is making a boob tube. Never heard of that one before. I need to keep up with the times! She bound it off and tried it on and decided to make a little longer, so she took out the bind off and was going to add a few inches to it when she got home. I also joined a not so local guild and will go to my first meeting for that next Tuesday. I am really looking forward to that.

I have been having a lot of wrist and arm pain this week. I think it's from working out and knitting is aggravating it. So I am going to lay off the arm exercises for a bit and see how it goes. I wouldn't know what to do with myself if I couldn't knit. What do people do when they don't knit??? What did I do with my free time before I started knitting???

I have been working steady on the shawl and the Shore Thing and making some progress. Having a deadline is very motivating! I am doing better with remembering my yo's with this project. I don't think I can finish the top in time though but we'll see. I am not out for the count yet! I think I am going to attempt the dreaded hood again tonight and see how that goes. (shudder)

We actually had sunshine here today for 1/2 day! Yippee
Happy Knitting!

Progress Report

Well deciding on the size large for the Shore Thing was a bad decision. Luckily I only knitted a few inches on it before I took it off the needles to check it out for size. It was pretty big. I made a gauge swatch and as usual once I started knitting it changed. Sooooo I ripped it out and started over with the size small. I think this size will be ok (crossing my fingers). This will actually be the very first top I have made myself. The only things I have made myself so far have been socks, mittens and scarves. I always have so many gauge issues that I have been too scared to try. But I get so envious of all the awesome sweaters and tanks and such that all the other bloggers make that I figured I have to try sooner or later. You can't learn if you don't try, right? I hope to have both the shawl and the top finished by the end of the month for a little trip I am going on. Of course, that is presuming the top is going to work out. (Think positive Karen, think positive!) I am taking a little 4 day mini vacation to Las Vegas. DH is going there for training for something or another from his company, so we are going out a few days early to sight see and then I will come home and he will go on to his class. So other than my air fare and food, most everything else will be paid for by his company so it was too good to pass up. I have already looked up a yarn shop in the area to check out! What kind of vacation would it be without visiting a yarn shop in the area?

Here are my camouflage socks so far. I just started the heel flap today during lunch. These have patterned very strangely. I messed around with the stitch count in the beginning to try to make them pattern the same. Then I gave up and just let them do whatever they feel like doing. It was much easier on both of us that way.

And this is Shore Thing so far this time around.

I took a picture of the shawl.... all 3 inches of it. But it isn't worth the bandwidth to post because it is so small and a crappy picture on top of it. So I will wait until it gets a little bigger.

Happy Monday (Blech) and Happy Knitting!

P.S. We are suppose to get rain here for the next 3 days! Yuck!

Another new project to start

Well I got the Suede yarn I ordered a month ago for my very first shawl. Actually the color I ordered still hadn't come in yet but they had enough in a lighter color so I just took that, as I was sick of waiting for it. I don't wait well.
Here it is:

I probably would have never bought this yarn if I hadn't seen it made up. The fringe really did look like suede on the sample they had in the shop.

Deb and Alysia wanted to know what color I am making Shore Thing in. I bought the white just like the pattern is made in. I wanted to also say that now that I am working with the Sock it to me yarn I really, really like it. I have used Fixation before to make a pair of socks and I don't remember it being anywhere near as soft as this yarn is. Could be that I just don't remember it well as it was a while ago. I will more than likely order some more of it this week before it is all gone. I haven't decided what color I want this time though. It has the same yardage as Fixation and it is a great price. It is not hard to knit with either, you just don't pull it taut. I am hoping the Large (35") will be big enough. I think I will take the little I have done off the needles tonight and put it on a length of yarn just to see how it seems around my waist.

Enjoy the weekend, Happy Easter if you celebrate it and Happy Knitting!

My Yarn Buying Hobby

I still haven't touched the dreaded hood and probably won't until the weekend when I am rested and in a better mood about the whole thing. Last nights S&B had another good turnout. A few people from the week before didn't make it but a few new people did, so it was all good.

I have been trying to make some good progress on the camouflage socks and am just about to the heel on both of them. I started a new project but just barely. I am making Shore Thing from Vogue Knitting Spring/Summer 2003. I am using the Sock it to me! yarn from elann that I bought when it first came out. I don't think I mentioned it when I got it. I don't always mention all the yarn I buy cuz I feel kinda dopey considering I buy wayyyyyyy more yarn than I knit. I read from someone on the Knitlist the other day that her hobby is buying yarn, not knitting. I thought that was pretty funny and so appropriate for me. My hobby is definitely buying yarn...and I just so happen to knit some of it now and then. I want to make my Shore Thing a little longer than this picture shows though. While I like short tops, I don't want my belly button showing. For one thing I am too old to be flaunting my belly button and it isn't flaunt-worthy anymore anyway. Sigh.

I wish I had the day off tomorrow but I only get a half day off. I suppose it is better than working all day but dh gets the day off and I *hate* getting up when he gets to sleep in! Ah well...

Happy Knitting!

%$#@*!& Sweater!

Knitting progress this weekend: None, zip, zero, zilch. I should have known better than to say that stupid sweater would probably be done by this weekend. I made almost the whole sweater in the round...just so I wouldn't have to sew it up. Do you know why? Because not only do I hate sewing things up...I stink at it! Bad! I have sewed and unsewed the hood so many times the yarn looks ratty around the neck. I threw it in the corner of my living room late Saturday night and have not glanced at it since.

On Sunday I thought I needed a break from the stress of the you-know-what so I decided to relax (ha! ha! ha!) and swatch up the sale bin Paton's yarn for a few patterns I found. I either couldn't get gauge or didn't like the way the swatch looked. (Sigh) I did however, make another important discovery this weekend. I also stink at coming up with appropriate yarn substitutions.

I am done pouting now I think and am going to find something to start. I don't know what yet. I do know I am not ready to touch that hood yet though.

Happy Knitting!

Sheep, Wool & Fiber Festival

There is a Sheep and Wool Festival this month in Connecticut in case anyone is in or around the area. It is in Tolland, Connecticut, which just so happens to be a big 5 minutes from my house. How awesome is that? I just wish they had it in May instead of April. It always rains so much here in April. It has been raining here most of this week too and they are predicting snow for Sunday night... blech will it ever end? I went to it last year and it was literally pouring all day and it was still pretty cold out. Keep your fingers crossed for no rain for it this year. I can deal with chilly... but chilly with pouring rain kinda stinks. I haven't been to the Maryland one yet but I did get to pay a visit to the Vermont Sheep & Wool Festival last October and that one was very nice. Now that I think of it I do believe it rained all day for that one too. Maybe it's me and I am jinxed! There aren't as many vendors here at the Tolland festival but there are enough to make it worth going.

I was digging around in my stash last night trying to find something to start next while I am waiting for the shawl to come in. I found this that I have enough of to make a summer top. It's Patons au Naturel, a dk weight cotton, wool and linen blend that I found in the sale bin of a not so LYS not too long ago. Now I just have to find a pattern I want to make. I didn't find anything on the net so I am going to flip through my old magazines and books today and see if anything grabs me. If that doesn't work either...than it's back to the ol' drawing board.

Enjoy the weekend and Happy Knitting!

Stitch 'N Bitch #2

Our second meeting was great. We had 11 people show up! Not too shabby for only a second meeting I thought. Everyone was very nice and there was some awesome things being made there. Here are some pictures I snapped while we were Stitching and Bitching.

I wish I had something that resembled a memory and could recall everyones names.... but I don't. Sorry about that! Erica has done a great job starting up our group and I look forward to watching how it evolves over the next few months. We talked about how long we have been knitting, what we were working on, what we liked and disliked about the LYS's around us and other such knitterly things. It was lots of fun.

I am almost done with the hood of the sweater. I am hoping to have the sweater complete by the weekend...but you know how that goes. The weekends never work out like I plan. I tend to plan BIG and accomplish small. My shawl pattern and suede yarn still hasn't come in from The Wool Connection. They said 2 weeks and this is week 3. I am not very patient when waiting for a new project, which is why I rarely order anything unless I know it is in stock and will be here in a few days. I had really wanted to be able to start it the very second I finished the sweater. I suppose I could start the other lace sock... or work on the (gasp) Aran Afghan... but I want to start the shawl!!! Ok ...I am done whining.. thanks for listening....or um reading... :)

Happy Knitting! (Tomorrow is Friday!!!! Yipeeeee)