Category Archives: Uncategorized

I’m impressed with how much I’ve stuck with the spinning so far this year. I’m really feeling like I’m getting it down now and can spin a decent and usable yarn. The latest?

Merino/tencel blend from The Fiber Studio.

I found this a bit tougher to spin. It drafted so smoothly that I’d lose it every now and then, or end up with a clump here or there. But boy is it soft and lovely! I think I’d prefer a 75/25 blend rather than a 50/50.

My latest obsession is the pink fluff. I was putting this one off as I thought it would be hard to spin, being nothing but a big bag of fluff and all but no, it is pure heaven to work with. I need more of this and I really hope the vendor is at Shepherd’s Harvest again this year.

I wish you could see the colors better…pink with purples, whites, orange and a bit of sparkle. Icelandic, alpaca, mohair, tussah silk. Lovely….you can’t beat Spinner’s Web. Sorry, no link!

The Honeycomb Bag is knitted up and ready for finishing. I have to say, the bag is cute but the yarn is a major PITA. Why anyone would want to knit an entire sweater in it (although it is soft) is beyond me. Don’t try to tink anything and if you lose a stitch, too bad for you…

I have to pick a lining for the bag. To be honest, I love both my fabric options but I’m not sure I love either with the bag. Would you choose

Option #1

or Option #2?

Or would you head to the fabric shop?

I promised a picture of how the Baby Surprise is looking with my first ever hand dyed yarn. It’s the only thing making this miserable Minnesota spring tolerable.

Last but not least, a big thank you goes to Amy over at Knit Think! Look at the wonderful contest prize she sent me!

I can’t wait to knit this up; I’m in love with orange lately. And eat it with the chocolates and tea and use the cute stitch markers. I’m all set. Thanks Amy!!!!

Cool thing of the day: I got to darn some mittens for a friend of mine that were knit by her great- grandfather. Not just any mittens either, a fair isle intarsia mix, with her great-grandmother’s name on them. You’ll all want to kick me now, because I forgot to take pictures. I’ll get a snapshot one of these days. You’ll love these mittens, seriously. Why didn’t my great-grandfather knit?

And now, the boys are asleep and I have a date with my spinning wheel and of course, Eastenders. Our local PBS station upped it to three episodes a week now so we may actually be somewhat caught up one of these days. I swear, we must be ten years behind the BBC.

My dear Skeptic has his birthday tomorrow, the last of the marathon birthday season in our household. Thank goodness this next baby will be born in September, as I am burnt out on birthdays. The Skeptic, bless his heart, is happy to have a pie rather than a cake. He is also the type of guy who will not mind that his birthday gift is about the first ten rounds of a new black spring tam, which I will promise to finish up before it is too warm to wear it.

His birthday, of course, means that the 15th is the last day of the contest (see sidebar). I’ve really enjoyed all the wonderful links everyone has been sending, both old and new friends.  I’m sorry I haven’t had the time to reply to all of you, but I promise I am reading them all as well as your blogs.  It’s always fun to have new visitors!  I hope you’ve also enjoyed stopping in and I certainly hope you’ll visit again.

The contest officially ends at midnight, USA Central time, on April 15th. I’ll pick a winner at random and announce by the 17th. The winner will then get a chance to pick their prize, either a needle roll or a small project bag, sewn in your choice of colors and fabrics (and I’ve got quite a fabric stash!). Have fun and keep those great links coming!

Saturday: Cast on for the Hello Yarn Top Down Bonnet for friend’s blessingway on Thursday.  Knit about 20 rows.

Sunday: Begin decreases. Realize that something is drastically wrong. Realize that even though you have knit this pattern before you have no idea why you can’t knit it now.

Monday: Boycott hat due to inability to figure out problem. Convince yourself you have plenty of time. Knit on a sock instead.

Tuesday: Decide you just need to rip out and start over. Realize that the entire problem was that you needed to cast on 36, figure 8 style. Instead of casting on 36, you wrapped the yarn 36 times, giving you twice as many stitches than needed. Wonder if you can possibly be any dumber than that, remind yourself you’re pregnant and chalk it up to wonky hormones. Start your taxes.

Wednesday: Knit, do taxes, knit, do taxes, knit, do taxes. Be pleased you are getting money back. Be unpleased at your lack of progress on the bonnet. Remind yourself you have all day Thursday.

Thursday: 9:30am:Get to preschool late, leaving you with less knitting time. Once home, have wired Knittykid insist on climbing all over you, making knitting nearly impossible.

11:30am:Run errand and pick up Little Man. Get Knittykid down for a nap and settle down for 2 solid hours of knitting.

1:30pm: Have Knittykid wake up after 30 minutes, crying that he needed “that!!!!” God only know what “that” is.  Take 20 minutes to figure out “that” is a Thomas the Train Leapad cartridge. Take Knittykid to rocker with cartridge and get stuck for an hour with a half asleep boy. Notice you need to be at the blessingway in three hours. Curse the snow.

3:30: Crazy fast knitting. Be thankful boys are actually hanging out quietly.

4:00: Make it to the I-cord. Realize you still have to make a pasta dish to take along and you need to leave at 5:15.

4:10: Break up first real fight between boys over a Jr. Scrabble game. Have a hard time not cheering  Knittykid on when he finally decides to retaliate from being pushed over by punching Little Man and pulling his hair. Decide to intervene when Little Man attempts to sit on Knittykid’s head. Wonder what it will be like when they are in middle school.

4:20: Bind off final i-cord, weave in ends.

4:30: Steam block hat, throw together world’s fasted and yummiest pasta dish. Manage to do dishes and put on clean clothes.

5:30: Run out door, amazed that everything is finished and the hat actually looks good.

6:30: Help to host beautiful blessingway, have a great time and know friend will have a beautiful birth. Friend loved hat and knows you well enough to take a blog photo with a promise to e-mail it to you.

11:15: Realize this is a really long post and wonder who, aside from your mother, will actually read the entire thing. Decide enough is enough and go to bed.

Contest reminder!!!! 44 entries in already, yay! I’m loving all the links:-) Remember you have until April 15th to get your entry in!!!

…of my very much loved Grandfather, who passed away this Wednesday, March 5th, 2008.

How to write, what to write, if to write…but it seems impossible to not write. Just as much as this blog is a record of all the happy blessings in my life it is also a record of the things that can be so difficult to deal with. And as hard as this is, my Grandfather was very much, and will always be,  a happy blessing in my life.

But as much as I love to write,  the words don’t come as easily in a time like this.  What do you say when you lose someone who was so full of love, and fun, and happiness all of the time? Who always gladly had every minute for you? Who every single time he saw you,  welcomed you with a smile and a hug and made sure you knew you were loved?

On Wednesday night, I looked for words for comfort, some words that would resonate with what I was feeling, something that might help me make sense of how hard it is to lose someone who is so important to you, but someone who was also very ill and ready to go.  I turned to Mark Doty, my favorite author and poet, and I found it in his book Atlantis, “Nocture in Black and Gold.” I’ll leave you with the final lines of this poem, with the words that spoke to me that night:

Doesn't everything rush
	to be something else?
		Won't it be like this,

where you're going: shore and bay,
	harbor and heaven one continuum
		sans coast or margins?

No one's here,
	or hardly anyone, and how strangely
		free and fine it is

to be laved and extended, furthered
	in darkness, while shadows
		give way to other shadows,

and the bay murmurs 
	its claim: You're a rippling,
		that quick, and you long to be

loose as air again, unfettered
	freshness, atmosphere
		and aria, an aspect of fog,

manifest, and then dissolving,
	which you could regret
		no more than fog.

A brave candling theory
	I'm making for you,
		little lamplight, believe,

and ripple out free
	as shimmer is. Go.
		Don't go. Go.

I had such a good post planned for today. Heaps of photos on the holidays and gift giving; a whole parade of handmade goods. After the sick-o-rama and then my holiday break, I was ready to jump headfirst back into blogging. Then, I dropped my camera.

My poor Sony landed with the lens hitting the floor, and now all it will do is make a sad, whirring/grinding noise as it tries to pull the lens back in, which it is grumpily refusing to do. So all those beautiful pictures I took for you? Stuck in the camera. So now what do I post about?

I guess I will start with the FO from my last post, the Webs Tam from Interweave Knits, Holiday 2007.

The yarn I used was Fleece Artist Sea Wool in Ruby Red. Lovely to knit with and a nice sheen. My gauge was dead on.

I used size 3 Addi Lace circulars, 32 inch. I was able to use the magic loop technique for the whole project and I am in love. I never bothered to try it until Mama Grouch showed me at our knitting group and really, it is the easiest thing. I just needed someone to start and show me how it’s done. And I swore I’d never give up double points.

The pattern was a fairly simple one (except the spiders in the middle threw me a bit) and I really have no complaints. This project was for my mother and it’s perfect on her!

On to a new year of knitting. Last year I set a few goals. Some I did well with, some not so well. I did increase my time spent sewing and spinning, and I did finish my raglan and cast on for a lace shawl (only four inches but hey, I tried it). The blankets and scarf are on a break, a big break. The only one I had been in a panic about was Knittybaby’s heart blanket, and he’s been given another years reprieve from his cardiologist*, so that can be slowly worked on as it looks as I’ve got a few years to get it done.

I also started the Ten Project Challenge this past year, and I have to say I’m happy with it and sticking with it. LimeDragon has come up with a great version of this; check it out if you’re looking for some other stash management techniques.

So where does that leave me for this year?

1. Try to get back to my one night a week spinning idea. I sew enough now that I don’t think I need to stick with a specific night for that.

2. Speaking of sewing, I’ve got 13 (13!!) windows that need new curtains. Think I’d better get to it.

3. Knitting? I’m got plans for the first few months:

January: the month of small things.

February: Sweater for me and one boy

March: Sweater for another boy and the Skeptic

April: Finish up the Skeptic and hit the lace

I also want to keep plowing through my sock yarn stash. Socks will be a good place to end this post. Remember the issue with these socks?

There was debate as to whether the Skeptic, in all his glorious Skeptic-ness, deserved any socks at all. Well, he’s hooked. Since it’s been cold out, I’ve been getting comments like this:

“I wish my socks were clean to wear right now. My feet are cold.”

“Can I wear these two days in a row?” **

“Will you knit me another pair? Soon?”

“You know, these wool socks I got for Christmas are nice and warm but the fit just isn’t as good as yours is.”

He also showed them off to all his cycling friends on their last winter bike ride. Case closed, huh?

*He actually went in for his yearly check-up today. His doctor said that if he keeps doing this well he won’t need surgery for a very, very long time. If your new to the blog, he has what’s call a coarctation of the aorta.  Initially it was thought he’d need heart surgery by age one. So obviously we’re thrilled to get this good news today!!!!

**He does most of the laundry in the house, but he’s not allowed to wash anything hand knitted. He just doesn’t get fiber.

Our family wishes you all a blessed Christmas and joyful New Year!

See you all in 2008!