I'm Baaaack

Well, the socks and I were trekking around Olds College all this past week. Here's the second sock of the third pair checking out the color wheel dyeing on day two. We were in the dye room from 8:30am till at least 5pm. Dyed for a color wheel, eight gradation shades and injection. Very long day, but hugely productive.


Olds is an agricultural college and the gardens around it are stunning. Unfortunately, it also has huge blood-thirsty mosquitoes. They chase you! Most unpleasant. But I did manage to get a pic of one of the less bitey bugs that fly around there. It was almost like he posed. He sat there long enough for me to dig out my camera and get a pic. Cant tell if he's smiling or not.


This one's for you Kerry!
That's (wait for it) Mr Tabachek!
We got to meet him and buy large sacks of his spinning tools. I think we scared the bejesus out of him. He looked kinda deer-in-head-lightsish when I asked for a photo. And very confused, but he did it amyway. Most likely to get the crazy ladies the hell out of his condo.


And here's the awesome load of goodies my secret pal sent me! Of course the parcel came while I was away and the monkey opened it. But I got paw all the stuff when I got back. It's great! All things I really love. Just check out the vintage needles. How cool is that?! Thanks secret pal!


Ah, it's good to be home. The second pair of trekalong socks is done and ready to get back to the beach. My walking buddy is back from France and we get back to our routine on Monday. She doesn't get up at indecent hours like her hubby. The dog and I can sleep to a reasonable hour again. Yay.

Adendum to Murphy's knitting law

I've now knit both sleeves of wretched sweater. Took a little under five balls to do both. It would seem that I had enough yarn in the first place. Perhaps even a little more than I will need. So now I realize that once you've gone to great lengths and expense to procur the yarn you are all but sure to run short of, you will have too much. You will have too much by exactly the extra amount you bought plus one. When I meet Murphy, I will give him the beating of a lifetime.
I'm off to Olds tomorrow afternoon and not back till Friday night. I will take pictures.
Be afraid.

Gallery

Due to popular demand (two people can comprise popular demand right?) I've finally figured out how to link to a gallery. I haven't got everything up yet as I exceeded my free limit and I'm trying to decide just how cheap I really am. I'll likely give the flickr people the paltry sum they demanded and do this right, but for now, suck it up 'cause that's all ya get!
And yeah, some of the sweaters aren't blocked and my compostion is crappy, but sheesh what do ya want? I'm no Ansel Adams and this isn't MOMA. Deal.

A Murphy's Knitting Law

It's always the way and you'd think by now I'd know better.
I bought 16 balls of wool/cotton in a discontinued color. I thought, "hey, 16 balls should be enough to do a sweater". Which I should know is a knitter's equivalent to the "E" on the fuel gauge meaning "enough".
The Nihon Vogue instructor suggested that we might like to make this cardigan as the construction is challenging. I thought, "hey, I've got wool/cotton in that great color in my stash and it'll be perfect for that cardy!" Most people wish for a fairy godmother, I now wish for the dumbass fairy. The dumbass fairy is a burly little thing that comes around whenever a piss poor idea pops into your head and just gives you a good thump on the back of the head as she mutters "dumbass" under her breath. Thus, you smarten up and come up with a better idea. Sadly, the dumbass fairy has forsaken me and I continued with my charming idea.
The swatch took a ball and a half. THE SWATCH!
At this point, panic set in. I combed all the shops and the web in search of more of this color. I got lucky, sort of. Found 4 balls in two different dye lots. So now I think I have enough, but I have 3 different lots to deal with. Luckily, the way the sweater's worked will help me hide them.


I've got the better part of one sleeve done now. The lace is the underside of the sleeve and the seam is actually up the side of the panel. Kinda cool.
I've my kit going for my sock kit pal. Hope she likes it. My pal contacted me today too so it's all good. I've decided not to carry on with The Amazing Lace. Initially, I thought it was just a knitalong, but it's not and I just don't have the kind of time required to do some of the wild posts they're asking for. It has spurred me on to more lace knitting though, so it worked out for the best.
The Point O' the Wave stole is stalled as I ran out of wool. Don't ask. See above.
Where is that bloody fairy when you need her?!

Trekalong socks first Trek

Here's the first pair of Trekking socks all finished and ready for their first trek. I used the River Rapids pattern and color 104. Anyone who knows me will be amazed that I managed to suppress my seriously OC tendancies and NOT match the stripes on the socks. I think it's the first time I've ever used stripey yarn and not matched the pair. If I don't look at them alot, it doesn't bother me...


The second pair of Trekking sock out for their first trek. This is color 101 (which I'm totally loving) in the Yukon Leaves pattern.


With my regular walking buddy in France,(lucky bunt) I get to see some slightly different scenery with her hubby. We walk in the park adjacent to the beach at a completely ungodly hour. We go at 7am, which is a compromise. He originally suggested 6am. Once I managed to stop laughing, we agreed to the slightly later time. It's a pretty park with a small stage, a kid's park and a huge playing field that Loki loves to run around on. We even found some edible mushrooms there last week.


This is mostly unrelated to the Trekking stuff. It's a little note for Anthea.
I have, on occassion, been accused of knitting all day, every day in a beam of sunlight with birds flitting around me a la Cinderella. I won't mention names ('cause I already did), you know who you are. You've accused me of letting my house fall into disrepair and never feeding the monkey. All so I can knit more.
Just thought I'd dispell the myth once and for all.
This was my kitchen yesterday, for almost ALL of the day. Strawberry hell. Entirely my fault. I never thought to ask my walking buddy's hubby how big the flats of strawberries he buys are. I just assumed (you can see where this is going right?) that he bought the 10lb ones. Afterall, he usually buys four just for him. Thank the deity of your choice I only asked for two! Bloody guy buys the 20lb flats! I had 40 freaking pounds of strawberries in my kitchen! Couldn't stand the smell of the effing things by 5 pm. And. I. Still. Wasn't. Done.
I managed to bag up the last of them around 7 pm. During this time I had managed to do three loads of laundry and...


...bake a cake for strawberry angel food dessert.
I admit, it was a mix.
But I did knit 21 repeats of the edging on the Point O' the Wave stole. Had to slide some knitting in there so I didn't go completely batshit.

Knit Sock Kit Swap

Yeah, I joined another online thingy. What can I say, I'm weak. And this one's for more sock yarn, 'cause I NEED more sock yarn. Of course I'm sending yarn to someone else so you could say that it balances out. There's rationalization at it's very best. Hah.
So here's questionnaire for the swap:
What are your favorite colors?
-blues, burgundys, purples
Are you a new sock knitter? How long have you been knitting sock?
-I'm not new, let's leave it at that
Do you prefer solid or multicolored yarn?
-MULTI!
What fibers do you prefer in a sock yarn?
-wool, wool/nylon, wool/cotton/ nylon, cotton/lycra
Where do you usually knit socks?
-pretty much anywhere I go
How do you carry/store small projects?
-usually stuffed into whatever big bag is coming with me
What are your favorite sock knitting patterns?
-I like ones that looks fussy but are simple. Travelling lace is my current fave.
What are your favorite sock knitting techniques?
-I'm a big creature of habit, so I almost always knit em cuff down with a heel flap, but I can do other styles.
What new techniques would you like to try?
-I've been considering the two socks at once thing
Do you prefer circulars or dpns for sock knitting?
-dpns
What are some of your favorite yarns?
-Schaeffer, any of the ombres, Mountain Colors, Lorna's Laces and Koigu
What yarn do you totally covet?
-Schaeffer
Any pattern you would love to make if money and time were no object?
-either Eleanora socks or Traveler's socks from Knitting on the Road.
Favorite kind of needles (brand, materials, straights or circs, etc)?
-Crystal Palace dpn bamboo
If you were a specific kind of yarn, which brand and kind of yarn would you be?
-huh?
Do you have a favorite candy or mail-able snack?
-Willie Wonka gobstoppers, or pretty much any kind of chocolate.
What's your favorite animal?
-herons
Do you have pets? What are their species/names/ages?
-dog, Loki, 10 yrs
-cat, Uzume, 9 yrs
-cat, Spike, 3 years
-hairless ape, Murray, 40 yrs
If you were a color what color would you be?
-again, huh?
Describe your favorite shirt (yours or someone else's)..
-black baby doll says, "You Can't Have Manslaughter Without Laughter". Has a fifties style guy in a suit, big smile on his face, brandishing a butcher knife.
What is your most inspiring image, flower, or object in nature?
-love pics of herons and eagles flying
Tell me the best quote you've ever read or heard.
-"There's such a fine line between clever and stupid." Spinal Tap
Do you have a wishlist?
-not really
Anything else you'd like to share with the group today?
-maybe later

Summer monster post

Well, it's mid June already and the flowers are blooming up a storm and the garden is starting to produce edibles. We've got fruit planted pretty much everywhere in the garden. There's peach, apple, pear and plum trees, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries and hazelnuts. Those big green leaves surrounding the foxglove are kiwi. The thing puts out a ton of fruit these days, we're talking several hundred. I even made some kiwi jam and marmalade last year. I didn't manage to get the vegies in yet, but there's still time if I just buy some plants. Time got away from me. What were the odds?


Even though the monkey's home, I still manged to get some stuff done this week. Finished spinning the first pound of Targhee in the 3 ply sport for level 4 next month in Olds. I won't bore you with a pic as it's white and there's miles of it. Took me two hours to ply it and my hand went numb. It was still tingly 30 minutes later. Only one more pound to spin. Um... yay?
The first pair of Trekalong socks is done and I really like 'em. Cool pattern that knit up in no time and they fit great. The second pair is already on the needles. I'm using color 101 in the Yukon Leaves pattern. Looks good so far.
I took some other crazy knitter advice from the last post and started both the Wave stole and the cardy. The cardy pattern is not so good. Has anyone else done that one? Seems really poorly charted. I did what I thought it should be, but it's almost impossible to tell from the pic what the lace should look like. So the cardy is stalled, but the stole is really coming along. I've got the first half done and I'm 6 repeats up the second. Of course, it's got the mother of all knit on double borders, so it's not even close to finished.


More spindle porn. Couldn't let you down. The one on the left is from the always enabling Kerry. It's an Avi Wasserman. I was having so much trouble getting one of those effing things that I was starting to think they were the grail of the spinning world. But here it is and it's pretty damn neat. The other one is a Duane Larson I got off ebay. It's pretty big and heavy, but it should good for plying. Attractive spindle and you know me, constantly compelled to buy the shiny things.


Speaking of shiny things...
The monkey brought me some from Israel! Of course, which one do you think I totally love? The one he got in a proper jewellry store, or the one he got from a guy on a blanket at the edge of the desert that will probably turn my neck green? Yup, the blanket one. I'm such a cheap date. It looks like it was shaped around a horn, very cool. Don't get me wrong, the other is really gorgeous too, it's just not funky and weird.


Last, but not least, something you don't get to see everyday, monkey on a camel! Keeping the Israeli tourist industry strong!

Monkey's away, stuff gets done!

I've got one of the Trekalong socks done. I really like the pattern. It looks like cables, but it's really a lace. Very comfy too. The socks's pointing out the Peace Arch in the background. It's the shiny thing at the skyline about mid-sock. Very hard to see, but it's there. The beach is great at this time of year. The tide goes out so far that you can almost wade across to the U.S. The bay almost empties, it's very cool. There's usually herons and bald eagles sitting on beach at the delta, and jelly fish wash up onto the sand after really lows tides. Sometimes sand dollars and starfish as well. Beautiful place to have so close to home.


I managed to get Roz's socks done before she left for Britain and France. She was kind enough to model them (make sure they fit) for me. I used the cotton Regia so she'll have comfy feet trekking through the Loire Valley. She's my dog walking pal and I'll be going much earlier than normal with her hubby while she's off having fun in Europe. Hope he doesn't expect much perky chat from me at seven am. Mornings and I are barely on speaking terms.


My first Amazing Lace project is done! And the weather is cooperating today so I can block it outside. I had to keep the mister close at hand as it's so warm, the shawl was drying before I had all of it pinned out. I got these great foam locking tiles from the dollar store and they're excellent for blocking. You can change the shape and pins go in easily and hold. When you're done, you just take them apart and they store in a tidy pile. Much nicer than having a huge foam board for blocking.


Here's a close up of the lace. Nice easy pattern that knit up very quickly.


I also managed to get the Shapely Tank done this week. I used the Treasure cotton and it's worked up very light and soft. A great summer shell.
Now I have to decide whether I'm gonna behave and do my homework for the spinning course and the Nihon Vogue class, finish the two poor shawls from the last post, OR be really bad and start something new. I've been eying up Print O' The Wave Stole and this short sleeved lace cardy. Anybody wanna help me decide?

The Amazing Lace: Scary Extreme Knitting

You want extreme knitting? I'll give ya extreme knitting!
Here I am, knitting away on the Adamas shawl on a sunny day. Looks nice and not terribly dangerous right? But wait! I'm not wearing sunblock! Ooooooh! And I'm not using a pattern! Ahhhhhhh! And I've neglected to run any guidelines at all! Oh the humanity! Where will the madness end?! I was drinking martinis while I knit that lace too! I got yer danger right here baby.


There's more! Witness the wool/silk yarn I dyed myself that has been started and yet the pattern has gone missing. Will I ever find the pattern or will I have to rip it all out and start over. Even if I find the pattern, will I be able to determine what row I was on? Oh the horror!


See the Charlotte's web shawl that ran our of wool! Aiya!
Will it be relegated to the closet forever?!
Stay tuned...

Punis and finished stuff

I admit it, I just like the word "punis". It sounds kind of naughty and it's hard to say it without smirking just a little. Punis are tight little cotton rolags. I ordered some to compare them with the ones I make myself. The bought ones are far superior. They card the crap out of the cotton and it's very uniform and soft. Very easy to spin these suckers. I plan on using them with my Bosworth charkha that won't be here till the end of August. Until then, the punis taunt me.
The very pretty lacewood spindle on top of the punis is apparently the last Mielke made for the time being. Kerry was so nice to pick it up for me at MDSW. Her spindle karma is good!
The two spindles in the foreground are from a local guy who's selling on ebay as Viking Santa. Very pretty spindles that spin really well.


Another baby sweater done. Well, sort of. It doesn't have buttons yet, but this may a good excuse to go to the button store downtown. I loooove self striping sock yarn. It's making my life very easy right now. I'll do some more interesting baby stuff too, but the stripey stuff is so damn cute.


And hey! I got the massive beach sweater done. The monkey could even tell it was an owl, so I think I did an okay job of the design. I couldn't find a traditional cowichan design that tweaked me, so I did my own. The border is a traditional pattern, but the owl's all mine. It'll be great on those chilly fall mornings by the water.


The monkey's off in the middle east for the next week and sent me pics today. Of course he mocks me with a foreign market. He gets to shop in a foreign country, while I spent the day cleaning out the kitchen cupboards. I fart in his general direction. Hmmf!

The Amazing Lace

Here's the team for this summer's Amazing Lace. I'm afraid the wine coloured merino that was originally planning to become the Adamas shawl that you see here was disqualified for being too plain. It has been replaced with a hand dyed merino laceweight that only arrived on scene a few days ago and is knitting very quickly into the shawl. The team is a mixture of fibres and one is even handspun. There's cashmere on the bottom left destined to become a Cat Bordhi lace moebius, bamboo above it likely to be the Diamond Fantasy shoulderette, a wool/silk blend for a stole yet to be determined and some handspun beast also waffling on it's project.
These contenders had better ante up fast though, as there's a cotton with a short-sleeved cardy pattern waiting in the wings to replace any fallen competitors and the handpainted merino is looking to be done by next weekend.

Guitar pics, no pun intended

Well, the bedroom reno is finally pretty much done and the monkey made it through alive. Just the odd finishing touch left to be done. Here are the wardrobes that ate my bedroom. They're massive! They allowed us to cut our closet space by about a third, which makes the tiny room feel a little bigger.
Can you believe I thought I could assemble these monstrosities myself? Not one of my brighter ideas.


This is a steel string guitar that I built about 15 years ago. It's got a red cedar top, satinwood sides, and...


a holly, satinwood and mahogany pieced back with purpleheart binding. Quilt inspiration? You bet!


This dyed targhee arrived today from Spinning Bunny. The colours are gorgeous and the fibre is very soft. It's going to make beautiful hats and socks. Maybe a lacy scarf.
The spindle is from a local guy. It's 1.4g and has an oak shaft and flamed maple whorl. Love the hook on this thing, it's perfect. I initially thought the carving on the shaft would bug me, but it doesn't affect winding the cop at all and the spindle spins like a dream.

Dear Ingmar

Dear Ingmar from Ikea,
May the fleas of a thousand camels infest your hairy parts. I have just spent three hours wrestling with what will forever be known as, "the furniture that ate my bedroom". I realize that I'm partially to blame. We measured everything in the store, but we neglected to take into account the fact that things in large warehouses are larger than they appear. Much larger. Perhaps signs to this effect in the store would be helpful for hapless consumers? But that would likely ruin your fun. I can hear you laughing at me all the way from your hillside chalet in Sweden. The chalet that does not contain any furniture that you had to put together yourself. And WTF? MDF? Shouldn't that be MDL? Medium density lead? I'm no weakling, but wrangling this stuff makes me feel like a puny little girl. I guess I should have realized that the offer of having it installed was really a very strong suggestion and the couple hundred bucks it would have cost would have saved much more than that at the chiroprator. Silly me.
In closing, I'm coming for you. Be afraid. As soon as my back heals, you're in for a world of hurt my evil swedish friend.
Sincerely,
Your impending doom.

Now, if I could just teach him to knit...

Spike loves wool. He particularly loves wool that's knit into things. Like my almost finished Cowichan sweater. If he could knit (and wasn't so freaking lazy) he'd be the perfect man.
I bet you're wondering about the fate of the reno monkey. He still lives. Mainly because I'm too tired and achy from sleeping on the futon for nine days. If I had more energy, I couldn't vouch for his safety at all. He went back to work on Tuesday and the renos were barely started. He spent a lot of time mudding (five bloody days!) and used a lot of spackle. I just put the second coat of paint on the walls today and I'm hoping that the window trim will go back on tonight. I also hope that the floor will go down tomorrow. If that happens, I could be sleeping in my own bed by tomorrow night. That would make me VERY happy. Of course, that still leaves four new wardrobes to be assembled and furniture to be dusted (effing drywall dust gets everywhere) and arranged, but at least I can see the light at the end of tunnel. Hah! It's probably a train.

Welcome to swatch hell

Just look at the cheeky reno monkey threatening to spray me with the hose! His blatant disregard for my wrath is shameful. I'll have to beat him with a rolled up newspaper later. Perhaps when he's not so dirty. Hmm, that doesn't sound right.


So, I was a good bunny and knit the swatch and did the drawing for the Nihon Vogue class this morning. I really liked the swatch and was looking forward to knitting the sweater. Stupid me. I should have known that it would mean curtains for that particular garment. At least for the time being. The gauge is too big and so is the cable pattern for the shape of the garment I meant to do. And when I came home to pick out a finer wool for the swatch, I came to an alarming conclusion... I have no wool. Okay, I can feel you rolling your eyes, but with the upheaval around here, most of The Stash is unaccessible right now. The plan as it stands now: save pretty swatch for later when class is over, continue with stretchy cotton swatch for tankini for final project, swatch bluey handspun for other final project, and finally, swatch purple Optimum for insanely patterned cardigan that teacher has made. Did ya hear that splatty popping sound just now? That was my head splitting open like an over-ripe grape and messing up my computer screen. Think I'll curl up in the fetal position and hum for a while.

Rumors of his death have been greatly exaggerated...

Okay, so I missed a day, stop emailing me! The reno monkey is NOT dead. See? Here he is, happy, smiling, well-fed and very clearly not buried under the shed. Sheesh. Give me a little more credit. That's the first place anyone would look for a body. Yesterday he chose the new paint colour, a nice soft mossy green. Yes, I got a man to choose a paint colour for something that wasn't a car. Where's my medal?!


It would seem that my resistance is at a low point these days as I have been quite easily coerced into joining two knitalongs: The Amazing Lace and Trek Along With Me. I'll admit it, I'm weak. It's not like I don't have enough to do already. And I just looove deadlines. I've picked the purple merino laceweight to do the Adamas Shawl with and the blue Trekking doesn't have a sock pattern yet. I'm open to suggestions, just no more knitalongs please. I may be weak right now, but eventually I would find you and, payback as they say, is a me.

Proof of life

Day 2 and the reno monkey is still kicking. We even cleaned him up and went out for dinner. Progress is slower than we had hoped, but that's always what happens with renos. Not enough hours in the day and we're overoptimistic. Still haven't even picked a paint colour!


And just so no one thinks it's all about the monkey...
I finally got the owl charted for the Cowichan sweater and now I can continue with the back. I'm not usually happy with browns, but the colours go together so well that I really like it. It's gonna be a great beach sweater.

Reno Monkey Death Watch

Day one of renos and the monkey is still with us. The new window snipe hunt was a close call, but things are back on track. I'll try to use a newspaper tomorrow so everyone will know he's not "swimming with the fishes".

Spindleholics Anon

Hi my name is Lara and I'm addicted to drop spindles. I haven't ordered any spindles now for several days, but they keep coming in the mail. I have no hope of getting clean. Is there a Betty Ford for spindle abuse? Anyhow, here we've got a Gabe C. in aromatic cedar, a Bosworth in Kauri, and a Grafton Mala. Sadly, I've been too busy to really try them yet.


Another Nihon Vogue project done! Getting closer to the end all the time. Yup, it's crochet, but thankfully, it's only a collar rather than the skirt suit the text would have us do. Pretty sure I don't have the physique to carry off a crocheted skirt, let alone an entire suit. Bet Anthea will figure out how to comment now, if only to send me big, wet raspberries.


My Peonies have bloomed! The tree peony has two blooms this year. It's one of my all-time favorite flowers. Had to put something pretty up as tomorrow the bedroom renos start. Pray that I don't have to club the monkey on the head with a heavy object.

FO

25 colours, one pot of Brazilwood. I admit it, I didn't believe it would give really different colours, but it did. Not only that, but some of those pinks and purples are really great. I might even use some of those colours. I'm still not a natural dyeing convert, but results like this do make me rethink my, "ugh, it's so much work" feelings.


Yay! Another Nihon Vogue project done. I don't even know what number this one is. I've totally lost track and I'm doing two or three extra projects, so who knows. There's such a fine line between over-achiever and just plain dumbass. This sweater proved that simpler is sometimes better. I tried to do a really fancy border before the yoke and it looked really bad. REALLY bad. Took me six hours. Three sets of calculations, two picked up bands (one with over 400 stitches the other only 300 and some), and two inches of knitting. Six hours. Knew I should rip it out and continued knitting. Thought I might like it more in another few rows. I was completely delusional. Spent twenty minutes the next day pulling it all out. I'd call it a learning experience, but it wasn't the first time I've done it and I somehow doubt it will the last. Yup, dumbass. Not such a fine line after all.

Hat Redux

I love the smell of merino in the morning.
This is the same hat as the yellow/burgundy one from previous posts, done in handspun merino. It's from roving I got from Winderwood Farms in NY. They have some gorgeous colourways and some great fibres.


Here's Spike riding the shed monkey. He'll ride his human for hours. Strange but cute. The shed is done but for a door on hinges. I hope to move the gardening stuff out there next weekend and start planning out the stash storage. I can't wait to have a semi-organized stash. Might put a chair out in the middle of the room so I can just sit there and dream up projects. Ahhh...

SP8 yay!

Here's the questionnaire:
1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
I've been told I'm a bit of a princess when it comes to yarn. I like soft stuff. Merino, fine wools, cottons, alpaca, that sort of thing. Shetland and I are not friends and I'm not a huge fan of novelty yarns and 100% acrylics.
2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
I have some fabric rolls that a friend made me and they work very well.
3. How long have you been knitting? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?
I've been knitting since I was 5, about 35 years. I think I'm fairly advanced, I haven't met a pattern I couldn't knit and I do design a fair bit myself these days.
4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wishlist?
Yup, but it's a little pathetic right now. I keep it to remind myself of things I'd like to buy eventually. It needs a serious overhaul.
5. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.)
I like grapefruit, lime, and peppermint.
6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?
Chocolate! Add raspberries to that and I am extremely happy.
7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?
I'm a certified (or is that certifiable?) guitar builder, I do beadwork, cross stitch, needlework, and I've been spinning for 15 years.
8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
I like a fairly wide range of music from old jazz to spanish rap to hardcore. Right now I lean more to hardcore and unless it's Johnny Cash, I think country is evil.
9. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color/family/season/palette you prefer? Any colors you can't stand?
I am very much a purple girl. Even when I try to get other colors into my life, I always wind up with some sort of purple or burgundy. Anything with yellow tendancies is taboo around here (unless it's complementing the purple).
10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
There's a man that I clean up after (see cheeky shed monkey), a dog and two cats.
11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
Yes to all but the last.
12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
I'll knit pretty much anything. I even knit a chair cover a couple of years back. But shawls are fun and socks are what I use as a brain cleanser between larger projects.
13. What are you knitting now?
I've got a cable patterned yoke sweater and a hooded buffalo sweater on the go for the Nihon vogue class (yeah, I said a hooded buffalo sweater, stop snickering, I'm a slow learner). Then there's about 5 pairs of socks, a tank top, a moebius scarf... I'm not going any further 'cause this is getting embarrassing.
14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
Yes!
15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum or plastic?
Mostly circs (addis), although I love the Crystal Palace bamboo dps for socks.
16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
Yes to both.
17. How did you learn to knit?
My grandmother taught me. She liked to keep me quiet. This is the same lady that sent me outside with a salt shaker and told me if I could get salt on a bird's tail I could catch it. Her neighbors must have thought I was insane. I spent hours outside as quiet as I could be (see a trend here? She wasn't stupid) trying to catch a bird with a salt shaker.
18. How old is your oldest UFO?
Sheesh, isn't that like asking what I weigh? A lady never tells. Okay, I know that leaves me out, but I'm still not telling!
19. What is your favorite holiday?
Halloween. You can scare children and not go to jail.
20. Is there anything that you collect?
Er, spindles, nosties, wpi tools. But the collection is kinda scary already.
21. Any books, yarn, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
I'd like to try the Regia bamboo sock yarn. I usually just pick up a knitting mag if it interests me.
22. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?
None come immediately to mind, but there's bound to be something.
23. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
Yes. I'm a size 7.5 and I have wideish feet, thickish ankles and a narrow heel. If a duck foot just sprang to mind for you, then you've got it.
24. When is your birthday?
Dec. 20.

Things I learned this weekend

1. Spinning all day on stuff you have to do rather than stuff you'd like to do is more fun if you do it with someone else who's in the same boat. As you can see, Angela just loooves working with Clun Forest fleece. Made me feel so much better about the many kilometers of targhee I did and have yet to do.
2. A beautiful sunny day makes above mentioned spinning also seem much nicer.


3. Happy shed elves never work when you're home. If you're home they send the cheeky monkeys in their place. The monkeys are occasionally foul-tempered, make faces at you, swear and get tool belt pant sag (hence the "cheeky"). You can see a monkey on the shed roof at the top right of the pic. Thankfully, feces were not thrown.


4. Targhee does not fluff up as much as I had hoped. The many klics of 3 ply that I spun and washed have decided to be about a sport weight. It doesn't seem to matter how much a beg, whine, plead or cajole, it's still not a double knit. Crap.
5. I should have sampled my ply before I spun almost half a pound of roving. Damn.
6. A 3 ply sport will make a really nice light cable knit. Oh yes, it will.