What Yarn?

I found my dining room. Underneath the piles of books, magazines, bags of yarn and UFO's, there really was a dining room table. Funny, I only usually see it for about an hour for dinner. Everything gets shoved off to the side while we eat and then it gets thrown back on. Still a work in progress, but notice the lack of yarn. This can only mean one thing: I have a craft/hobby room! Woohoo! This is soooo not done yet, but you get the idea. I've got a place for everything to be stored within easy reach; no searching. Royd wants to know where his modeling stuff goes. I'm working on it. While I was moving everything around, I started flipping through some of the masses of magazines, trying to decide whether to keep or toss. Look what I found and had to immediately cast on for: This is the Twelve Little Leaves doily from Knitter's Magazine, Spring '04. I'm using some fine cotton yarn from the stash that I picked up last summer from the local Wolle Rodel. It's quite firm yarn, but knits up nice and soft. I had the hardest time getting it started. Eight stitches on four needles proved to be disastrous. I kept twisting the stupid needles or dropping them entirely. Finally, I worked the Magic Loop method for the first six rounds and then switched back to the dpns. Much, much better. Actually, I took this picture yesterday in hopes I'd find time last night to post. This morning I finished it and now it has been added to The Finishing Pile.

A Much Needed Escape

Yesterday I packed up myself and Connor into the car and headed east for a little day out. We left Reilly and Royd at home so that they could spend some quality daddy and son time together. I also needed a break from the ever-trying toddler phases we are going through. Onto Kathleen's we go! Oops, I terribly overestimated how long it would take to get there, so we were way early. Anyway, once they were all ready to go, we drove into town to go to a arts and crafts festival. Kathleen and I were hoping that we might find a little fibery goodness. The closest we got was some felted flowers. Oh well. Often times I don't think about things that will make awesome pictures for the blog, so I don't have any from the festival. But we did remember to take some as I was leaving. I hope that I don't look this dorky all the time! Just look how big Connor's gotten! I had a great time and look forward to getting together again, soon. I finished the Waving Lace Socks a few days ago. I like how they turned out, but could have made them just one centimeter longer on the foot. My big toe is just a tad tight. I want to cast on for another sock, but can't decide which one. Maybe I'll wait until I get my sock pal's info. Still knitting away at the Snowdrop Shawl. Each row is taking a good five minutes, and I'm only halfway through the repeats! I'm trying to be good and not drag my other lace weight yarn out and play with it.

I Can't Stop

Spinning is all I want to think about. Have I mentioned how much fun it is? I spun some more of the wildberry and plied it up last night. The one on top is the latest one. Notice that the yarn is more consistent and plied a bit better. It's also much thinner. I have about 185 yards in 45 grams. I think that would qualify as fingering weight, which is what I was aiming for. A closer look at the difference Next up I wanted to try Navajo plying. Um, either I need lots and lots more practice or I'm doing something wrong. Okay, I know I need to do it a bit tighter, but should I be able to see the chain(?) that is produced when I pull another loop through? Then there's the Summer of Lace Knitalong. New yarn couldn't be justified, nor could books or patterns. So it's onto the stash. Lucky for me I have some 1500 yds or so of white Zeppyr just sitting there waiting it's turn. I should have plenty of this yummy stuff leftover for a scarf later on. Stephanie's Snowdrop Shawl has been on my "to-do list" for quite some time, so it was quickly casted on. This one is sooo easy. I had the pattern memorized after the first repeat-smooth sailing! Other fibery things are happening in my head, I just have to do something with them. I'm contemplating dyeing some roving, casting on for a doily and finishing some things. Well, good thing it's a weekend...

Spin, spin, spin

After a several month hiatus, the spindle found it's way back into my hands last Friday night. I hadn't been intentionally ignoring it, it's just that the whorl had broken off. I'm super scared that if I try to glue it back on, it'll be forever crooked. I decided to forge ahead, broken and all, and practice a bit. A spindle full of the corriedale spun up without incident and I was feeling quite bored. The wildberry roving was just sitting there, staring at me. Calling out to me. "Touch me! I'm worth it!" It sure was! I'm sorry, but this picture can't do it any justice. Purple and blue with occasional streaks of magenta and green. And it spins up sooooo nicely. I'm hooked. I ended up with approximately 144 yards that appears to be between a DK and worsted. It just needs to be set and then I'll see how it knits up. Question: What would happen if one forgot to set the twist? Just wondering. Now I'm on an adventure looking for a new spindle and some fun colored wool to buy. I'm having a very hard time deciding. Lace It seems that everyone is talking about it. I know I've been bitten. The problem is that I don't see myself wearing tons of shawls and stoles. I can count the occasions on one hand. So, I've been looking at alternatives, such as doilies and tableclothes. Yarn Over has quite a few that look really cool and I'd like to try them out. And then there's the Hanging Vines Stole. Err, well, um... It's getting frogged. I got about a foot done and it hit me. There's no way I'd ever wear it as is. The striping action was just glaring at me and it made me twitch. Aahhh! Not to fear, the yarn will get used for something else and the pattern will definetly get knitted. While we're on it, I joined the Summer of Lace knitalong today. What? It's not socks?!?

It's Been Awhile

... since I made a pair of socks. Not really, but it feels like it. My fingers were just itching to play with the last batch of yarn I dyed. I'm using the Waving Lace pattern from the Spring '04 Interweave Knits and I love how they look. If I had had to dye this yarn again, I would have put less yellow in. It's just a tad bit too much. Since I'm still loving those socks, I signed up for this: You know I just couldn't resist. I know, I know. I did some serious stressing last time, but I think that this time will go much better. Now, I'm just anxiously awaiting my sock pal's info. Okay, I will continue to knit the Hanging Vines Stole in the current yarn. I've gotten a few more repeats done and it's starting to grow on me. I don't anticipate this going quite as fast as the FBS; I can't seem to wrap my head around the pattern repeat yet. Other than that, not much is happening here. We are planning to move both of the boys into the same bedroom this weekend. Reilly's room isn't exactly big, but he's got way more space than he needs. Connor's room is tiny and essentially a waste except for his crib. So... Royd and I had a brilliant idea to steal Connor's room from him and turn it into a hobby/extra stuff room. Now, I can finally get all of my yarn out of the dining room!

Hilarious Stuff

Yesterday we went for a little drive down to Rothenburg-ob-der-Tauber. It's a beautiful Medieval town that is renowned for it's Christmas decorations and festivities. I've been dying to get there since I've heard it's a wonderful time. Here's the funny part: apparently Rachel went there yesterday too. Imagine that! Two bloggers in the same town taking the same pictures and we didn't even know it! Go check her post. Shots of the wall St. -Jacob-Kirche Rathaus and Franciscan Church Street performer part of the Reichsstadtmuseum overlooking the Tauber We hope to get back there for the Weinachtsmarkt for a good dose of Christmas cheer. Do I have some knitting content??? Why, yes, I do. FBS is off the needles and waiting in line for it's turn to be blocked. (snorts to self ) I loved knitting this up. I think that the lace bug may have bitten me. I just have to figure out whether I'm going to keep it, or give it away as a present. Originally I had started it for Royd's Nanny, but we know that that plan isn't anymore. Decisions, decisions... See? I casted on for the Hanging Vines Stole I got from Elann awhile back. I just can't decide if the yarn fits the pattern or not. Is it competing too much? BTW I'm able to get my pictures from the camera, but can't take any more. Darn thing needs to be sent for repair. Aargh.

Hey Y'all!

Nothing like spending a week and a half in Virginia to kick that southern accent into high gear. Actually I'm from Pennsylvania, but we'll blame three years in Georgia for that. Anyhow, I am back. Have been since Tuesday morning. I've been trying to post all week, but life kinda got in the way: four people with wicked jetlag, two sick children, some two million loads of laundry to do (not done yet), a lack of knitting to show and some major stressing over the state of our future here in Germany. To address the latter issue, here goes. Our division is slated to tentatively relocate back to the states sometime next spring/summer. The plan is to split the division up between Texas and Kansas. No offense to anyone, but those are two bases we haven't any desire to go to. So, we've been trying to figure a way out of it. Ideally we'd like to spend an additional year in Germany (we'll never get a chance to live here again!) to make it a full three years. Well, Royd works with someone who knows someone who may be able to help get him transfered. Whoopee! Uh, no. We have now gotten word that his unit may be disbanded (ceasing to exist) sometime in the near future. Great. Now what? Granted this could just be another rumor, but considering who it came from, it holds validity. Honestly we have no idea what's going on. People are getting orders to relocate left and right. People who shouldn't be getting them for another year or two. There's absolutely no security right now. Perhaps I'm stressing way too much. We've had "on the fly" moves before, it's sure to work out. I guess I'm just getting to a point where I'm over it. I want to decide where I'll live and for how long. Whispers to self: only five more years... That feels better now. Thanks. I also wanted to thank everyone for the nice sympathy thoughts. What began as a very sad occasion turned out to be an awesome "vacation". Royd and I got to have time away from the kids when there weren't family obligations. Pretty sad, but our first date in a year was a few hours drinking coffee at the Barnes and Nobles followed by a plate of appetizers at Chili's. I don't care, it was heaven! Of course I just happened to drop by a few yarn stores. I'm having all of my goodies mailed (along with the other five boxes of American goodies we couldn't live without) so once it gets here, I'll show it off. That is if I have a camera. Somethings wrong with it, and I can't get my pictures! I may have to find the old one. Okay, I'm tired. Hopefully I can get things to work tomorrow, 'cuz I've got things to show.

A Little Late

I do hope that everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day. Sadly mine turned out to be not the best. We received a call early on that Royd's Nanny had passed away that morning. She'd been in and out of the hospital for awhile dealing with recurring bouts of pneumonia, so the news didn't come as a surprise. So, we'll be hoping on a plane Thursday morning to fly back to the states. We'll be gone for a week and a half. Until then, friends-I've got a million things to do.

A Case of Startitis

Okay, so I wasn't completely honest yesterday: I did cast on for my next projects. First, I started the Flower Basket Shawl. I'm using Knitpicks' Alpaca Cloud in Stream. I love this yarn, it's so soft and yummy. I managed to get through the upper chart but can't continue. I need to get pointier needles. All of my 5 mm's are pretty blunt and I'm having a dickens of a time catching all the stitches for the decreases. I guess a trip to the yarn store is in order. Shucks. I also wanted to have something to work on during the knitting group. I contemplated taking the Heart-Motif Sweater, but didn't feel like dragging all those different balls of yarn along. I figured I'd might as well start Connor's aran sweater. Yeah, I finished the back up this morning. I'm amazed at how quickly it works up. This is the Aran Pullover from Knitting for Baby and I'm using Woolease in Loden. I finally figured out the trick to cables; don't use the cable needle. I always tend to shy away from cables because they were tedious. Not anymore! I see many more cables in my near future. My first night at the knitting group was, well, interesting. The group consisted of me, the lady running it, and volunteer from the center that was just hanging out. Another lady stopped by to get some info but didn't stay. Then the lady running it left after 40 minutes. Since it was my first time alone without the boys I wasn't in a rush to go home, so I stayed and chatted with the vounteer. I do hope that word spreads and more people start coming. Hubby says that I'm not allowed to go anymore. Apparently his time with the kids was "trying". Welcome to my life, baby!

Happy Cinco!

Well, the boys succeeded in their mission: get me sick. I spent the better part of three days with my butt planted on the couch. That is, in between cooking, cleaning and playing with the kids. I believe I heard my husband mutter something about it being his weekend and wanting to relax. Ha! When do I get a weekend to just sit around? Yes, what you witnessed last week was truly an exceptional event. I did manage to drag myself to the flea market across the street on Saturday. It's an annual event and huge. I couldn't not go! There was your usual crap, overpriced junk, antiques that would't last a day in my house and of course the beer tent. In between all this, I did manage to find something of interest: Look! Old yarn! I mean, just look at those labels: I also saw some really old and really decrepit spinning wheels. I thought about it for about half a second and then realized that it would probably cost a fortune to fix them up. There were just too many parts missing. Onto knitting progress... That would be two sleeves of the Basket Weave there. You know what that means-start something new! No, really I have to block these bad boys and have a little seaming party with myself. Ya'll know how I am about finishing, so we'll just leave it there. Yup, we also have one sleeve of the Heart-Motif Sweater. Which brings me to thoughts of finishing this up. Here's a question to anyone who's done this kind of stuff before: should I weave in the ends before or after blocking. I remember reading somewhere which way was best, but do not recall where. Any ideas would be appreciated.

Documentation for the Whole World to See

Perhaps I need to finish something. My WIP basket is running over. Actually it has run over, there's about six other projects in other places in the house. Note that on the left is a back and a front to the BWP. Only about three more inches on the first sleeve! Also in the picture, there's a box on top: my new swift. It is anxiously awaiting some yarn to test it out. Hurry up mail! Thanks for the nice comments on the Heart-Motif Sweater. I had to put it down for a few days since the cotton was starting to hurt my hands. I was kinda bummed out last night. The Arts and Crafts Studio on post just started a knitting group on Thursdays. I found out last week and promptly told my husband to expect me to be missing this coming week. Well, he tried his hardest to get home on time, but things always seem to "just happen". So, by the time he got here, there wasn't even enough time for me to run down and just say hi. But, I think that it was worth it in the end. Please witness: Yes! This is Royd cooking! A first in years except for when he makes Buffalo Wings(his rock). Funny, he used to cook at a restaurant and he wasn't half bad. Please excuse the obvious mess in the back. All three boys are sick and I'm a bit behind in the housework. *added later* to other blogger users: does it also drive you batty that what you see in "compose" isn't what you see in "preview" or even what is published?

Doing the Twist

This is what I've been up to this past week: This is the sweater I settled on for my new cousin, Sarah. It's the Heart-Motif Cardigan from Zoe Mellor's Adorable Knits for Tots. I would have been much farther along, but I had to frog the entire back. I had been tempted to try to carry the yarn at the color changes across the back. The result was puffy hearts, which I didn't like. So, this time I'm using a seperate ball of blue yarn between each heart. Lots of ends to weave in. I'm having a blast knitting this up. Who knew that insartia could be so much fun. Usually I run from complicated patterns, but I want to stop doing this. My knitting needs to be more exciting! The Basket Weave Pullover is making progress too. I've finished the back and am just about ready to start the neck shaping on the front. I'm trying to get as much of this done as I can. I have yarn on it's way to knit the Flower Basket Shawl and I know that once it's here, BWP is on indefinite hold. Yesterday we had a great day. No major tantrums; just happy kids all around. Here's the boys clowning around on the couch. These two are hilarious together. All Reilly has to do is look at Connor, and Connor's laughing his little butt off. I have a feeling that once he's mobile, I'm going to have my hands seriously full.

Can I Keep Them?

I mean really, look at them. I have to say that I'm impressed. Of course they're a present, so they had to come out perfect. Not one mistake (that I noticed) and they would fit me too. No, I guess I'll give them away as planned. Besides, they need to put in the mail this week so that she gets them in ample time. I think I may have found my next sock project though. I have been searching for just the right pattern to fit the latest batch of Kool Aid yarn. I found the Broken Cable Rib Socks on the Interweave Knits website this afternoon. I may be crazy though. The thought of all those little cables on 3 mm needles kinda makes me cringe, but I do believe the end result will be worth it. We'll see.

Necessary Distractions

Here's my pathetic progress on the BWP (Basket Weave Pullover). I'm about an inch from the armhole shaping and can't seem to get there. I'd like to. I know that once I bind off a few inches, it'll start to go quicker. Yet, I can't. See, the thing is that I'm bored. The thrill of the pattern has worn off and I am no longer amused by it. What to do, what to do. I tell you what I did: casted on for Branching Out. Yup, you can see it right there, laying on top of BWP. Almost as if saying "Nyah nyah. She likes me better than you." The truth be told, I'm falling out of enchantment with this too. Sure, it's beautiful, but a bit repetive. I will finish her and move on back to the grey blob. That is, until I get bored again and find something else to occupy my mind. In other news, I did a little bit more dyeing on Friday. I absolutely, positively love how this yarn turned out. It may just be me, but I adore how variegated yarn looks all wrapped up like this. The colors pop out and you can get a good sense of how well they work (or not) together. It's already been wound into ball, though, waiting patiently for me to turn it into a wonderful pair of socks. It may not have to wait long.

Stripes

I finally found some time (I kinda stole it) to experiment with dyeing. I know that in order to do stripes, they say to wind an extremely long skein. Well, I don't have that kind of room in my house! So, I thought up of another way to do it. First, I wound the yarn in thirds. I wrapped the yarn around the back of each chair in increments of six(plus or minus one or a few). I kept the yarn going in the same order each time, but there's no rules. Next, I dipped each third in the dye pot separetly for each color. Note: colors will not appear "right" if using a black pot. I will mix the dye in a clear bowl prior to putting it in the pot next time. This is what I ended up with. Three different colors, albeit much darker that what I was hoping for. Here you can see the color joins are a bit messy. The green did not run as much as I thought it would and the purple ran too much. I haven't rewound the yarn yet, so I have no idea what it looks like knit up. I'll be doing this technique again, with some lessons learned. Yesterday I picked up varying shades of pinks Kool Aid. I'm going to try to do some yellow, pink and orange variegated this time.

Knit Faster!

Do you ever feel like there's so much to knit and not enough time? Of course, we all do. Perhaps I'm overextending myself lately. Lots of projects in various states of doneness are laying around. Okay, I'll admit it-I'm not a finisher; I have a problem with following through. There, I said it. This is what I need to do: green and blue raglan-cut neck opening and reknit blue sweater-seam, knit collar and weave ends maroon mittens-knit the thumbs black cowl neck-undo an inch of cowl and redo Estivale-block, seam and do collar Pretty Petals socks-knit its' friend Sarah Ann's sweater-waiting for yarn Basketweave Pullover-get knittin' Then there's what I haven't started yet and really want to Flower Basket Shawl for Royd's Nanny-need to find yarn Royd's mittens and scarf Aran sweater for Connor-yarn ordered hooded pullover for Connor Harvard Square for Connor a cabled pullover for Reilly red cabled turtleneck for myself Branching Out This is only a partial list, I could go on forever. And forever and ever... Notice I'm planning alot of things for Connor? Well, cute little boys need cute little sweaters.

5910 Yards

Well, it certainly isn't Camilla's train. It's what I got in the mail today. 30 balls of grey and black Woolease from Discount Yarn Sale. The grey's for the Basketweave Pullover with plenty left over for a sweater for Reilly. The black is for a hat and mittens for Royd. Yes, I'm aware that there'll be tons left over, but I know it will get used in the future. I may be able to get a wrap out of it. Hmmm... That reminds me, I just love the new issue of Knitty. I Do and Susan's Branching Out scream "KNIT ME!" I Do would be a perfect cover-up for a Ball I may be attending next month. We're waiting to see if someone can babysit or not. My lonely skein of Silky Wool has just found it's home. Thanks Susan! Since I'm not in the mood for seaming, I started a pair of socks for Mother's Day. I think the color is fabulous and the pattern, Pretty Petals from the Townsend Sock Knit Along, is a breeze to knit up. I sure hope she likes lace socks! I'm also aware that this is the second post in two days. No, aliens did not take my children or husband. I realize I've been quite slacking in updating lately, not for a lack of things to say, just a bit of laziness and apparent time vortexes.

Koolaid Mis-Adventures

I finished these socks a few days ago from some sock yarn I had dyed with Koolaid last fall. It was my second attempt with it and wanted to see how it knitted up. I have now learned the importance of equal skein lengths. As you can see, one pooled and one striped. I find both attractive and will wear then regardless of their mismatchedness. A few weeks ago I tried to paint some yarn. Ick! I hated how the colors turned out. So I dumped the entire thing into some purple and overdyed it. I've got alot of ides about color combinations for other sock yarns flying around in my head. All week I've been attempting to dye some large stripes of colors. I just need a good whole hour to wind the yarn appropriately and do the dyeing. An hour of alone time has not been happening lately. Don't get me wrong, I love my husband, but he really requires ALOT of attention! In other knitting news, I am still making children's sweater for charity. The pink striped sweater's sleeves have been lengthened and looks much better now. I finished the green and brown raglan too. Almost. The neck opening turned out a bit on the small side. Since this is the cast on edge, I see cutting in my near future. That is, when I get the nerves to take a scissor out. While I'm avoiding doing this, I started another sweater...

Pink Is In

The charity knitting is going very well. I haven't strayed as of yet. Not to say I haven't been tempted at all, I'm just sticking to my guns for now. First up is the afghan (aka the Pink Monster) I made for Afghans for Afghans. Finally!!! All that needed to be done was the light pink border around each panel and then the burgandy final border. It may seem like not much but it took three days. I hadn't thought through how I was going to finish it off, so I ended up frogging the borders a few times until I got something that I liked. So glad to be done with this one. Next up are two sweaters that I'm making for the Dulaan Project. The light pink was done using a modified drop from the Knitters Handy Book of Sweater Patterns. This only took two days thanks to a 30" chest and 3 spi. The striped sweater was done using a top down seamless yoke pattern. I loved that there weren't any seams, but I didn't like the way the increases pucker. I also am not sure that the sleeves are long enough. My measurements add up, they just seem a bit short so I'm thinking that I'll probably undo the ribbing and add another inch or so. Next up is a top down raglan in green and brown. I'm still fudging with it, so no pictures today. In other news I forgot to mention that my sock pal got her socks and reports that she liked them. I knitted for Angela, who is coincidentally only about two to three hours from me. That was part of the reason I had such a hard time finding sock yarn for her. The selection of yarn over here isn't vast like it is in the States and many stores carry the same stuff. I had wanted to make her something she wouldn't have had LYS access to. I'm just glad that she liked them and that they fit. Now that the anticipation is over, I can say that it was alot of fun to knit for another knitter.

It's a Girl!!!

Congratulations to my Uncle Rich and his wife Lorrie. They just adopted this beautiful girl. I am so thrilled for them; they've been wanting children for years. I don't know all the specifics, but I pretty sure that they've been trying since I was a kid. So, now, what to make for her? I've been having a blast the past week pouring over hundreds of patterns. Since I've only had the pleasure to knit for little boys as of yet, knitting for a girl gets me very excited. I'm allowed to use pink, purple and peach! Woot! Other than a pair of socks that I'm currently knitting myself, I've deemed that the next two weeks will be committed to finishing and charity knitting. My knitting basket, which now consumes the entire table it's on, needs a serious emptying. Let's just hope that I do not get distracted by some other "urgent" knit.

I Got Them!

And I love them!!! These gorgeous socks were waiting for me last night at the Post Office. They come from North Carolina made by Wendi. They're Denmark from Knitting on the Road. The colors awesome, I need more purple in my life. Wendi's so sweet, she also included some matchbox cars and a mini See and Say for the boys. Thank you, thank you! I just want to know what yarn she used, it's like butter. In other news, I finished the scarf from Hell. The stinkin' thing took two weeks to do! I guess what matters is that he loves it. So much that he has asked for another one in black. Ha! We'll have to find a different pattern this time. I went ahead and ordered the yarn for it from Discount Yarn Sale. He also wants black gloves for work, so I figure I'll use part of the bag. The rest will be sure to get used up sooner or later. I also got two bags of grey Woolease for his Basketweave Pullover. At $2.25 a ball, you can't beat the price. I was contemplating getting the Patons Merino that was used originally, but that won't work. My husband is worse with his clothes that Reilly is. I wouldn't dream of making him a sweater that couldn't go into the wash to remove all those food stains.