Are we there yet?

Now I know how long it takes me to knit a pair of basic socks. Nine hours.
I don't usually do anything in the car on road trips as I can get motion-sick by trying to read a map in a moving vehicle. I thought I'd give it a go, figuring that just plain knit was something I didn't really have to look at as I worked. I made sure that I had the cuffs done before I got in the car and I finished off the toes on arrival, but still, not bad for time I normally just sit staring out of the window and changing cds.
I'll think of it as a warm-up for this:


Check it out if you're a little crazy, competitive and willing to knit socks like your life depends on it. In this case it kinda does.
Anyhow, our trip to Salmon Arm went well and we got see some of the monkey's family. We had a very nice visit albeit quite short. Lots of food, lots of drink and a fair bit of knitting for me. I got halfway up the back of a Lavold tank. The trekalong sock never made it out of the bag. And I didn't buy any wool. The monkey was shocked and a little pleased.
On our drive home we saw a moose! It was wading in one of the small lakes between Kamloops and Merritt. Very cool! Wish I'd been able to get a pic.
Friday the monkey's off to the island for some fishing. The standard household rule will be in effect: no fish, no come home. I know it sounds cruel given that I'm sending a guy from northern Sask. salmon fishing, but hey, he gets to go fishing and I get to look after the dog. I'll be soaking the cedar plank, there'd better be fish!

Last Trek in Gibsons

Angela and I went up to Gibsons last week for the annual Fibre Festival. We were taking one of the Olds College spinning classes. We did manage to walk around in lower Gibsons (the Landing) a few times and I took this pic of the trekalong sock with the marina and Molly's Reach (of Beachcomber's fame) in the background.


Here's the first sock done. It's in XXL #108 and I've used Sockbug's Not Cables pattern. I didn't like the pattern at first, but pressed on and it looks kinda nice when it's on a foot. Some patterns just look better stretched I guess.


Trekalong encouraged me to increase my stash with lots of the XXL ombres. I have a serious weakness for them now that I've gotten past the unmatched socks issue. I don't think I'll get that last sock done before the end of trekalong, but I got three and a half pairs done, so I'm happy. We won't talk about the stash increase caused by my ombre infatuation. Be distracted by all the pretty yarn. Yeah, that's it, pretty isn't it?


The place we stayed had a nice private nook with a picnic table which we used almost every night after class to dry fleece and skein samples for the next day's class. If you look closely, you'll see that Angela's working on a trekalong sock. I think Jane's just waiting for wool to dry. We did a fair bit of that.


I have to admit that I got most of the above sock done during slow moments in the spinning class. There were only a few, but I took advantage of them.
Now I have to go do spinning homework. Feh

My KSKS pal kicks ass

Check this out!
This has to be the best kit ever. My pal Lisa, put a ton of thought into everything she sent. I love it all.
There are two skeins of handpainted sock yarn and it's so soft, a pair of patterns that I can't wait to knit, fibre to spin some sock yarn ( that is just too cool, can't believe she though of it), some very yummy chocolate that didn't melt even though it had to go coast to coast in the August heat, grapefruit hand lotion and.... really beautiful sewn cases, one for accessories (it came with needles, crochet hook, emery board, needle holders, and darners!) and the other for the socks in progress.
Thanks for everything Lisa! The rest of you can go be jealous now.


I think I should get a prize for worst run-on sentence ever.

Mofo

It's been a good week for getting stuff done around here. Yesterday the monkey and I went at the workshop and managed to clear a bunch of floor. We got rid of things, stored things away and just generally made great progress. I'm hoping he'll get a little bit more done while I'm away. I can actually see and get to most of my larger equiptment in the shop. This is major. I grin like an idiot every time I think about it.
With the Vogue program done for the time being, I knit a sweater that I really wanted to. I'm not thrilled with the finished product. It's too short and too wide, but the construction was interesting and now I know how to make it in a a way that I would wear it, so it's not a total loss.


I also did a sample for my friend's shop. Cute cotton little kid's sweater. Hope she likes it. Aurora may wind up getting one of these too. Since the sizes start at one year, I've got some time. I started Bee's Knees Ruby for her in what we're calling Kermit green and hope to get it done while I'm away. These spinning courses are pretty exhausting though, so I may not get much else done.


Had a great time with Holly last weekend. We went to the button store, Daiso (the Japanese $2 store), yarn stores and almost made it out to the marker in the middle of the bay. Poor Holly, seems every time we get together, she gets dragged on some long walk ( also known as enforced death marches). If you see her, ask her about The Great Bowen Chocolate March of Doom. Anyhow, much great food was consumed and the time just flew by. She even got a tour of the Stash's new home. She assured me it wasn't that bad and I could still buy more yarn.
And "hi" to my KSKS pal. I'm away till next Saturday, but the monkey will let me know if the kit comes in the meantime (I still can't wait). And I'll email and blog about it when I get back. I'm sure it will come now that I'm going to be out of town!

The Stash

Okay kids, here it is the walk-in Stash closet. There are five single wides and one double. They measure something like 23" deep, 21" wide and 90" tall. I can get 11 lidded, stackable boxes in each cupboard. Three of the singles have just the boxes (that slide out on runners like drawers, how cool is that) and one is just shelves, while the last one is a combo of both. The double has 9 boxes and two shelves. It looks like this:


It's got nothing but fibre in it.
I've managed to get the Stash almost completely put away and semi-organized. Now I just have to deal with this:


So that I can get back to making guitars and start making spindles and such. Believe it or not, this was way worse before I got the Stash put away. And yes, I have a wood Stash too, wanna make something of it?


But look! I got the insane cardy done. And it fits!
Year two of the Nihon Vogue is done and I completed my required stuff. Whew.
Looks like there will be years two and three offered, but not till next year. So I've got a bit of time to work through some of the Stash. Think I'll start knitting and spinning some of the bigger stuff first...

New niece pic

Aurora Rose arrived early Thursday morning. Here she is with my brother Thayne, the proud dad. Mom and babe are both doing really well and are back home now. I have to hurry up and get the rest of those little sweaters knit!