Gotta Have It

Last weekend didn't yield much knitting time. You'd think that with a four hour drive there'd be some, but not so. The hubster doesn't like to drive and is quite horrible at it so I ended up doing most of it. On my hour break, I did manage to get about 6 repeats on the Irish Hiking Scarf and that's it for the whole four days! Wednesday I got my new Interweave Knits in the mail. Wanna see what I had to have? That's the completed back of the Drop Stitch Cardigan. That would also be my new Silky yarn. A perfect match! I'm so glad I didn't forge ahead on the other sweater I was thinking about. I wasn't sure if I'd have enough of the yarn, since the yardage and weight is a bit off so I tried to hurry up and finish the back. I used 140 gms out of a total of 700. I think I'll be just fine. I also want to make the Greek Pullover (without ruffles) and the Union Square Market Pullover. One small problem with the latter. The largest size measures 44". I do believe that I'll need more than 1 1/2 inches of ease. Perhaps I'll wait on this one to see how my body settles down once Connor goes on cow's milk. It's only 5 more months. I guess I could wait. There's been a bit of spinning going on too. I finished some more singles of the wildberry and then tried my hand at some thicker singles. Once I get around to setting the twist, I'll see how I did. In the meantime, I finally got around to dyeing some roving. Here's a pretty good picture of the colors. I dyed just enough for a pair of socks. I'm trying to get half of it spun and plyed before next Thursday. The newbie knitter in my knitting group wants to make socks, so I thought it'd be fun to start a pair with her and help her along. I also swatched some yarns for my sockpal. I'm not sure if I like what i have. There are these or this: Maybe I'll find some tomorrow in Nuremburg...

Bavarian Getaway

Hi! Question: why is it that whenever one goes away, that when one gets home one needs a vacation just to relax? We were gone for four days, so where did all this stinkin' laundry come from? And we won't even mention what the interior of the car looks like... Anyway, we had a pretty good time. Got to Edelweiss on Friday afternoon, but didn't have time to do anything that night, being that we had a "class" and all. Saturday there was some more class, but on our five hour break we headed into downtown Garmisch and poked around. Nothing like two cranky kids to spoil a beautiful day. Sunday morning and afternoon was all ours so we drove out to see Neuschwanstein Castle. The first is that and the other is Hohenschwangau Castle, right across the ravine. Monday after we were released, we stopped at Oberammergau to check out the goodies there. The town is famous for their woodcarvings. Not really my thing, but worth looking at. Sorry, I had a wonderful post in my head, but having a really hard time recalling it at the moment. Need. More. Coffee. I'll leave you with various pictures I snapped along the way. Painted house Charming architecture Gorgeous Mountains I love the houses here! Fibery reports later...

Splurge!

I did it! I got the camera I wanted. Well, not really, but the one we were looking at. What I really wanted wasn't even close to my price range. Can we just say that the military isn't exactly compensated the greatest. Okay, that's another whole subject that we won't even get into. Anyway, I ended up picking up the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ20 this morning. I ran to the local PX to check to see if they had it in stock because I really didn't feel like driving back to Wurzburg. It wasn't on display, but since they're having a Panasonic promotion this weekend, I thought that they might have it in the back. Sure enough. The sales guy had to ask me if I was sure, on account of the price. I guess I looked poor this morning. No makeup, hair in a haphazard ponytail and wrinkled clothes. It's been one of those days so far, I'm not usually so bad about leaving the house in unacceptable attire. Two hours of charging the battery and then I can start playing!

Cast On and On

I can't quite focus on anything the past few days. I'm feeling a bit uninspired and blah about my current projects. The Snowdrop Shawl is progressing slowly-only three more repeats. Then I pick up the 436 stitches for the edging. Yikes! I think I might be able to get one row done a day once I get there. Speaking of lace, I casted on for doily I talked about last post. I'm on round 58 of 76ish. Can't find the last page right now, so I'm guessing that's about right. Now that I moved it to the circulars, I can really see the pattern emerging. I also think that I bought enough of the yarn to make 20 of 'em. Once I got the thrill out of this one, I rummaged through my stash for a little mindless knit. I pulled some brown tweed and casted on for the Irish Hiking Scarf. It's going to be a Xmas present for someone, I just don't know who yet. It's never too early to start thinking about these things. Next, I'm swatching the Silky yarn I got on Saturday. I got suggested gauge right on and it also corresponds with the pattern I'm thinking of doing. The fabric isn't as drapey as I'd hoped, but when I moved up to a larger needle, it didn't look good. I'm going to have to sit on this one for a few days. I'm so sorry about the crappy photo quality. I still haven't sent the camera to be fixed. Royd and I had a serious talk about the camera and agreed that we're going to get a new one. We'll send the broken one to be fixed, but we need another one that can do more. With all of the traveling that we're doing this summer, I'd really hate to take crap pictures, only to kick myself later. What we're looking at is the Panasonic DMC-LZ2 or the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ20K. The two cameras are very different in what they can do and portability. Oh, the decision! Speaking of travel, we're off to spend the weekend at Edelweiss on Friday. The hubby signed us up for a marraige retreat sponsered by one of the chapels. We get free rooms, meals and child care and the only catch is that we have to attend a few classes each day. No problem. Hopefully three days will be long enough. One more thing: if you've emailed me, have faith, I'm not ignoring you! The computer was acting up Sunday and Monday and I've got a mountain of emails to get through.

I am Weak

It all started so innocently enough. See, there's this doily I want to make, named Egeblad from Yarn Over. I didn't have the yarn and didn't want to go to the yarn store. So, we drove to the PX in Wurzburg yesterday. I had a slight problem: the pattern didn't say how much yarn was needed. I picked up five of these: I figure I'll have lots left over (there's 1000 yds in each!) to make another down the road. When I got home and started rummaging through my needles I remembered something. None of my smaller needles match up. All the dpns are in standard metric sizes and the circulars are in US. Yes, a 1/4 mm is a big problem for me. Hmmm. I guess a trip to the yarn store IS in order. Here in Germany, all the yarn stores put baskets of various yarns in the front. I guess to tempt you to wander inside to see the other goodies. Well, this one happened to have a TON of sock yarn sitting there calling out to me to dive through them. I did. These two were attached to me when I came up for air. In my defense, they're not for me. See, I kinda got that pair of socks to make for my sock pal. (S)he happened to say green is a favorite color. I'll see how these knit up and see. I make my way into the store, get my needles (I thought three various sizes would be good-just in case) and head to the buttons. Ten minutes later I find some that look like they'll work with Connor's Aran sweater. So, I then mosey on up to pay. Whack. There it is. A basket I've missed. A basket that I've seen before and had forgotten about. I stop to pet the yummy, yummy yarn and something catches my eye. SALE 2 EUROS Uh oh. Um, this yarn used to be 7,95 or something like that. Ladies, we're talking 55% silk and 45% viscous. Slubby singles with a very light tweed effect. Pretty spring colors in blues, greens, pinks, and purples. How could I not??? I got seven. I might need more. There's tons more. As I was piling these onto the counter, Royd appears at the door and asks, "What the heck do you think you're doing? That doesn't look like needles!" He so does not get it.

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.