I'm Alive and Kicking

The past two weeks have been pretty busy. Nothing in particular, just stuff. I've been trying to get this post together, but things kept getting in the way. So, instead of doing laundry, here I am. I have a lot to show. First I'll start with a few finished objects. Conway for the KOTR kal are finally finished. I really had to buckle down to get them done. For some reason I couldn't get into them. The pattern was easy and the yarn was nice and smooth, I just wasn't feeling them. The Flared Lace Smoke Ring is done too! The Baby Silk was an absolute pleasure to knit with and I'm having a hard time letting go of this. I see one in my future. Connor lost one of his mittens one day on a walk. I had backtracked but someone had already picked them up. I hope that one mitten keeps someone very warm. I pulled out Knitting for Baby and two colors of Frog Tree Alpaca and got to work. Too bad the hat turned out big enough to fit Royd's head. I'll toss into the next load of jeans to see if it'll shrink up some. This is the merino/tencel that I had been working on. Lots of thick and thin, but I love how it turned out. This is the roving that was suppose to be orange, red and yellow. Spun up, it turned into a coralish pink. I tried my hand at Navajo plying with moderate success. It's much better than what I was getting on the spindle, but I need more practice. Any tips on how to make it better??? Next, I wanted to practice thicker singles. Yet again, lots of thick and thin, but I really like it. I still have to set the twist and spin the other three ounces, but wanted to sit on it for a few days before I did so. Just to make sure I really liked it. In the meantime, I wanted to see how the green and yellow roving looked. Me likes. I'm hoping to get enough to make the Herringbone Scarf from Oddball Knitting. If not, maybe another hat and gloves for Reilly. See, I told you it was alot! I'm mulling over my next project to start. There's a ton I want to start, but am trying to prioritize according to need vs. want. Uh, yeah, I'm well aware of a few UFO's. I haven't forgotten. Edited to add: I finally caved and have joined the masses. Please put yourself on my map!

More Adventures in Food Dye

I'd bought two pounds of merino roving a few months back with the intention of dyeing it. Finally this weekend I dragged it out of it's hiding spot and got to it. I wound off four portions into four ounces each and tried out some different colorways. These are the first two. On the right I was going for different shades of pink with a little purple thrown in. On the left was suppose to be bright red, yellow and orange. Neither turned out exactly as I'd hoped. There's still a lot of white left left in the roving. Try again. Here the purple and pink thing went slightly better. I'd run out of grape koolaid, so had substitute Wilton dye. You can't really tell from the picture, but where the purple didn't saturate enough, it turned blue. I think I like it though. The yellow and green turned out pretty much how I thought it would. I can't wait to see how it all spins up. There has been some knitting too, just not any pictures today. The shawl is off the needles and waiting to be blocked, sometime later this week. I also started on the Flared Lace Smoke Ring in Elann's Baby Silk. It's not going as fast as I'd thought it would, but love working on it. The yarn is so soft and smooth-an absolute great tactile experience. Well, Royd should be home tonight from his last two weeks in the woods. So I've got lots to do before he walks in the door and creates a whirlwind of dirt and equipment.

An Aside

Your Birthdate: December 19 You are resilient, and no doubt your resilience has already been tested.You've had some difficult experiences in your life, but you are wise from them.Having had to grow up quickly, you tend to discount the advice of others.You tend to be a loner, having learned that the only person you can depend on is yourself. Your strength: Well developed stability and confidence Your weakness: Suspicion of others Your power color: Eggplant Your power symbol: Spade Your power month: October What Does Your Birth Date Mean? I usually don't post these things, but I felt this one was pretty accurate. Almost freaky.

A Little News

Come April, our family will be a little bit bigger. It was a little unexpected on our part, but welcomed nonetheless. I guess I'll have to give up the wool room...

Finish One, Start Another

So, I'm a little late in posting the kids in their Halloween outfits. I guess it's just been one of those weeks. Anyway, this was Reilly's first year trick-or-treating and he had a total blast. We only stayed out for about 40 minutes, but he came home with enough candy for a few weeks. This is one of the better pictures (out of about 20) since at least one of them would move at the last second and come out a blur. Notice the looks on their faces says, "Let's go, Mom! I think you've taken enough." Yesterday I spent the entire day babysitting for a friend. Introduce a 2 year and a 1 year old and the result is absolute chaos. Knitting? Not a chance. I think I fell asleep on the couch at about 9:30. Much of the knitting I've gotten done this week has been Sneaky Knitting. Thankfully socks can magically get finished in this manor: Now he has requested a modified balcalva that has a snap-on mouth covering. For him and all of his guys. Before January 6th. I almost died laughing! I told him that maybe he would have one by then, but nobody else. He must think I'm a machine. And here's the shawl. Only four more rows before I start the edging. Honestly I probably won't touch it until tomorrow. My house is still recovering from yesterday and I can't even think about doing 30 minute rows right now. What you see in front of it is the start of Connor's Guernsey. I'm using the pattern from Knits for Babies and Toddlers. I've wanted to make this for what seems like forever, but would never think to buy the yarn. Nice easy knitting and it's going very fast so far. That is, if I could ever sit down with it.