Sunday, November 29, 2009

well, I didn't want to be bored if it snows!!!


Major score and yarn purchase this week.
Check it out.......

There are 6 books there, Barbara Walker stitch dictionary 2 and 3, Cat's new sock book, a couple of Norwegian knitting books (my new obsession), and a lace book.
They were all free, courtesy of weight watchers bar codes.
Last year, weight watchers announced a program that if you saved bar codes and sent them in, you could get "fabulous" prizes. Well, the points you had to have for the prizes just kept going up, and the program ends dec. 31st, so I just got a whole bunch of books from my wishlist. I MIGHT have one more book's worth left, we'll see if they give me credit for them.

The yarn on the right is the spoils from the Blue Moon sale. A pure black raven, Lunasea (to use with the raven, but I'm not sure it's going to work - I think I have a better one), and a couple of Strange Brew, purchased to be man-socks as a christmas present.

The colors are from the loopy ewe. The green is for a lacey, leaf pattern shawl, the other two for some endpaper mitts.
Last but not least, the final shipment of the RSC club. Love the yarn and the pattern, now all I need is the spare time.
There's still a bit more in the works. I ordered a couple of blacks from knitpicks. I'm trying to find a good, inexpensive pure black that I can use for stranded knitting. Hopefully they'll work out.

Making some progress on the Botanica Medallion, once I figured out all the errata and the screwey pattern. I only have 70 repeats to do on the edging. One takes about 15 minutes.


See, I won't be bored.......

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Cinnamon Brown is 3!















This week is Cinnamon Brown's birthday. She was born 3 years ago, the day after thanksgiving. I still remember the day we first saw her, a tiny little puppy in a cold garage in the middle of January. We picked her over her sister because she seemed the friendliest. When we took her to the vet on monday morning, we were told that she was completely unsocialized, and would probably be a nervous biter. The vet said we should have never bought her. We were devastated.
Well......I'm happy to report that after a couple of obedience classes (HAH!), some fun days at doggie day care, and lots of lovin' from various pilates classes, she's pretty much perfect in our eyes. In everyone's life, there's one animal that becomes your "heart" animal. She's mine.
Happy birthday sister!

Here she is, a girl and her farty marmot! She loves it.
On the knitting front, the christmas knitting continues. Nothing much new.
Next week, all kinds of surprises in the works, stay tuned!

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Sometimes you just gotta do it.


This week's motto: finish up!
I've spent my knitting time this week finishing up a lot of odds and ends and some holiday knitting.
The faery ring is done with buttons and all. The only thing it still needs is a little blocking around the hood.
The "holiday" socks are done too.
As you can see, they've all been boxer inspected and approved as well.
Oh, and that nice, bright yarn is the stuff from the sale last weekend. I've just been petting it all week.













The other thing on the finished list is the messenger bag. Isn't that parakeet cute?
I love how his little cheeks turned out. It's the logo of my friend's pilates studio. (don't worry, she doesn't read this blog). I think she's going to love her new bag. It's definintely one of a kind. The project today is to line it with that fabric there, reinforce the strap and sew it on. (I also need to remove the cat hair. Squiggi has somehow decided that felted bag feels SO good on his butt!) One more christmas present down!

Next up, finishing some fingerless mitts for one of my clients, and also a couple of felted bowls for some other clients. The bowls should go fast, they just need time to dry once they're felted. I plan to fill them with some odds and ends of goodies and sugarless peppermints. After that, I guess I can go back to knitting for ME!

P.S. Blue Moon Fiber Arts - makers of socks that rock, is having a 15% off sale this weekend. I had to spend money, I know you will too!

Sunday, November 08, 2009

All Done!


The Fairy is finished. All it needs is buttons and a bit of blocking.
I'm loving it. It fits perfectly and is warm and comfy. I can't believe how fast it went. I can hardly wait for it to get colder so I can wear it, and it's definitely going to madrona with me in Feb.

Next up, I'm going back to christmas knitting. I've decided to make a felted bowl for one of my clients and fill it with sugarless mints, also, I found a cute pattern for some fingerless gloves made with one mini-mochi and I'm going to do those for another friend and client. I also have to finish up the christmas socks (pretty much there after watching movies last night), and a couple of man-socks - also christmas stuff.
The felted bag is felted and has been drying all week. It felted nicely, but it's really thick and makes the kitchen smell like a wet dog. I'll be working on the needlefelting as soon as it's dry enough, then lining it and adding the strap. I think my friend Amy will love it (she doesn't know about this blog, so it's OK).

I just have to add that I LOVE Ravelry. There were 2 happy rav incidents this week that just remind me that it's pretty cool. The first happened by accident. I stumbled on a thread that I wouldn't normally even read, but for some reason, I clicked on it. Imagine my surprise to find a person I worked with about 2 years ago, she moved to the UK, and is still living there. We friended each other and messaged back and forth a bit. It really is a small world. The other happy accident was when someone posted about a yarn sale in my town. Of course, I had to go. Bought some lovely sunny yellow sock weight yarn with no idea of what I'm going to do with it. Maybe it was the dark weather that inspired me. It's sitting on my desk right now, and I pet it regularly.

One final request, if you have a moment, drop by Bea's site and send some healing thoughts to Gus, her doggie. Seems he ate a small rubber ball. He had the surgery to remove it, but has ended up in the doggie ER. All of us pet lovers know what that's like, just sayin'.

Sunday, November 01, 2009

Rockin" the fairy ring



























I don't know why this project is going so quickly, but it really is.
The body of the sweater is complete as well as both the sleeves. It's mostly blocked (one sleeve left to do), and ready to start with connecting the shoulders together and picking up for the hood. It's turning out beautifully and I can hardly wait to see the finished coat.

That's pretty much been all the knitting progress this week. Worked on the christmas socks yesterday for a bit while faery was drying. Thinking about lining up the next project, but I'm just not sure what to do. I'm thinking 2-color norwegian knee socks, or, making some fingerless gloves for some of my clients. I don't know if they'd wear or like them, so I'm on the fence......


I'm already loving fall back. That extra hour just seems to make all the difference.
I also thought I'd share some pics of our visitor this week.
What's that sister? Something in the front yard?













Check out the rack. Nice little 2-point. It's amazing how they adapt. We live in a pretty busy residential area, and they seem to visit a lot - right now it's for the apples that fall from the tree.