Monthly Archives: February 2008

February 25, 2008 · 7:39 pm

Flu One, Knittymama zero

I’m on day five of flu hell, although I do feel more like a human today than yesterday so that’s a good sign. It’s actually not been all that bad. It just sucks so much more when you have two little ones who won’t stop climbing on Mama, or waking up Mama, and who are wired from being allowed to watch PBS 24/7. ( Little Man is now an expert on volcanoes, although his information is a bit suspicious. Did you know, that if you walk to the top of a volcano and drop a match into it, the entire volcano will explode? Yeah, neither did I. We may need to take a trip to the library. But still, you’ve got to dig an almost five year old who loves Nova.)

So anyway, you all can imagine my state right now. So here’s a picture I’ve been saving for a rainy day. I can save it because it is the sock that never ends. It stays the same no matter how long I knit it. Spunky Eclectic, Blue Faced Leicester for her sock club. These will be lovely if they ever get done. This was her Halloween colorway. So soft.

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Filed under family, socks

February 18, 2008 · 5:45 pm

Slacker

Yes, that’s me. I haven’t read a blog or updated my blog for over a week now. My free minutes have been few and far between, and probably will be for a few more weeks. But I’m still here and will try to pop in as I can. We’ll see how much catching up I can do today.

The good news is that my own personal genius, the Skeptic, has fixed my camera. So I do have photos to share. Today’s photo? My Fleece Artist scarf, the last photo I took before I dropped my camera and smashed up the lens.

This is from one of their scarf kits, it’s a thick and thin wool and a silk boucle. It’s super warm and perfect for this winter we’re having. The only problem? It sheds like crazy and I’m walking around the city looking like I have a long haired white cat who I let sleep on my coat. I tried to explain to the Skeptic that I needed a new coat that would hide my constantly shedding scarf and he gave me “the look.” That is the “we barely have extra money to order out pizza right now and you want a new coat to go with your scarf?” Um, yeah. Okay, so no new coat right now.

So there you have it, some actual knitting content.

My other main order of business is to catch up with the wonderful award that both Catherine and Lia gave me:

This truly did make my day, and now I get to pass it on to ten others who really do make my day, those who I miss when I have a week like this past one has been. But first I need to say “right back at’cha!” to both Catherine and Lia. Catherine is a wonderful friend who I don’t get to see enough lately (I miss my Tuesday night knitting!). Lia was my first coffee swap partner and a sweet person who dyes beautiful, gorgeous yarn. Her package was the first time anyone ever dyed any yarn just for me, and I felt very spoiled. Thank you both so much for thinking of me!!!

So in addition to the two awesome ladies above, here are ten more very fine bloggers!

Nuttnbunny: Oh, can she spin! And I think she must spin in her sleep, she seems to get so much done.

Jess: A friend that I first met when Little Man and her oldest were both babies. We hadn’t seen each other for while, but then started reading each other’s blogs, both of us wondering, “hmmmm, is that her? ” And it was. I’m glad we’re both running in the same circles again, and her blog is a nice way to keep in touch as we still don’t see each other all that much.

Chris: How else would I keep up with all my knit-blogging news? And you can’t beat cats and knitting!

Paige: A new blogger, she always has great thrifting finds and some beautiful projects.

Jennifer: An all around talented crafter and the Fiberflix queen! (Although now that our tv is busted I’m even worse at keeping up with all those great movies.)

Jody: She knits, sews, spins, and takes lovely pictures!

Marsha: My fellow vegetarian-knitter-mom and another former swap partner. Not just knitting, she’s got a great mix of interesting stuff on her blog.

Sheepish Annie: Funny, funny, funny. And just to be sure you know, she’s very funny.

Dottycookie: A lovely mixture of creative goods!!

Guinifer: You want to keep up on your sock yarn? Then her blog is not to be missed!

Wow, so hard to pick only ten out of the 196 blogs I have in my bloglines. Yeah, I know that’s crazy. But everyone is so talented, I hate to miss it!

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Filed under friends, scarf

February 8, 2008 · 2:44 pm

Spinning Friday

Remember these?

Now they are these:

No time to say more for today. Have a great weekend everyone!

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Filed under spinning

February 7, 2008 · 4:27 am

Bad Knitting

Sometimes, I produced some very bad knitting. This is an example of that. Yes, these mittens will be warm, and the Peace Fleece yarn is lovely, but they are crooked as can be.

There is good reason for this, which I will get to another day. But, I did want to show that despite what has been on this blog this month, I am still knitting (although barely.)

I’m going to go try to get in the other thumb tonight. Many thanks to Jess for taking pictures for me on Sunday. It looks like my camera will be back in working order, so I’ll have a huge stream of photos soon!

6 Comments

Filed under mittens

February 2, 2008 · 2:32 pm

Spinning Saturday

So it was not in the cards last night to post. The Skeptic was at work, and I fell asleep with the boys and did not wake up until 10:30. By then it was all I could do to find my knitting and grab a cup of tea so that my night was not completely lost. I did finish up one mitered mitten (but I’m not thrilled with it) and caught up on Eastenders.

So what about spinning, then? The Loop batt still waits next to my wheel and the camera is in process of repair, so let’s talk spinning books this morning.

When I was going on my Christmas gift money spending spree, I came across a new spinning book, Creative Spinning.For only $10 I couldn’t pass it up, and I’d say it’s well worth the money.

The authors give good basic instructions on spinning. This is the sort of book that would have been helpful after I took my first spinning class. Just enough information to get you going, but not too much to complicate things (although I’m not sure it would be a good match for a beginner who is trying to teach themself, you might need more infomation). They also include a little section on spinning novelty yarns, plying to make diamond, boucle, marled, or other yarns.

While part one is helpful for beginners, part two is the best part of the book (although for more advanced spinners): thirty yarns to admire or spin yourself. The authors did a great job of presenting each one, showing the fibers, the yarn, and what it looks like when knit. There is a nice mix of fiber, everything from Wensleydale to bamboo. My only beef is that there is no resource page at the back. When I went to look for where they got all those beautiful fibers, there was not a word. That part was disappointing, but otherwise it’s a great book.

Other spinning books that I noticed coming out are:
Intertwined
A Fine Fleece
Start Spinning

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Filed under books, spinning