come here, my pretty.......

This week brought the second installment of the CSK, the archery socks. When I saw the pattern I KNEW I had to buy the varigated yarn that was in the sample. I'm not much of a red person myself, so I chose this gorgeous blue/pink/purple. It's the Seattle colorway from abstract fiber. Their website does not do it justice. I just want to pet it and look at it. It's amazing.













This week also brought a FO. Here's the august tulip socks, done in sheepaints bamboolaine that I purchased from a ravelry destash.





I'm also sad to announce the demise of bee fields. Just wasn't working out the way I expected it to. It's a gorgeous pattern, although quite advanced, and the yarn just wasn't doing it justice. I'll start it again with something more appropriate. I have my eye on some lace from the original custom dyed kit that's in a rav destash.


It was a busy yarn buying week here. (don't 'cha just love the internet?)
I was invoiced and paid for my woolgirl cheshire cat kit, and also took advantage of the 10percent off blue moon coupon to buy their new pattern and a skein for a pooling scarf for my new coat. Next week, the loopy ewe sock club will invoice and ship. YIKES! I'd better get to knitting.

Since the demise of bee fields, I'm working on Birch by chrissy gardiner. I've never done entrelac, or entrelac with lace, so I'm really enjoying the challenge. The Yarn is the sanguine gryphon bugga in rainbow scarab, purchased especially for this project. love, love, love it!











Last but not least, look what $5 will get ya. I normally don't do this kind of misc yarn, but there were 2 skeins of alpaca in there, and that made it worth it......

I know, I know, I missed last week

There just wasn't anything to say......
I've been suffering from a little knitting add. The bee fields is at a point where it takes about 1/2 hour to complete a row, and also a great deal of concentration. I've been working on my tulip socks, and they're almost done, but I need to re-do the toe on the first one, and I've been thinking about ripping the whole thing out and starting over. So, what do I do? Buy cheap yarn at michaels and start a baby blankie. Which, by the way is progressing nicely. It's a lot bigger than it looks in the pic right now and, really, almost done. It's a free Rav pattern - radiating star blanket - and I think it's going to be my go-to baby blankie from here on out. It looks hard, but super easy (tv watching easy).

There's also the new vogue and debbie bliss for inspiration. I have waaaaayyyyyy too many projects and waaaayyyyy to little time..........












Next up, the next loopy ewe sock kit should be billing soon. (LOVE the loopy ewe), I also paid for the woolgirl "cheshire cat" kit from the alice in wonderland series, so that should be shipping soon too, and the september CSK pattern will be in the inbox probably next week. I think I'll wait to see the pattern before I pick the yarn.


Last but not least, ozzie is growing like a bad weed, and taking full responsibility in his role of mayor of kitty city.













All that ruling with an iron paw is hard work, ya know.

hot! hot! hot!

well, summer has finally arrived here in the pacific nw. It's supposed to be 95 for at least the next 3 days here. Too hot for comfort for this northwest girl.
I guess there'll be knitting.
SPEAKING of knitting.....
here's a sock.












It's the first installment of the CSK, tulip socks, in sheepaints bamboolaine, color flowertree. I think it turned out pretty well, love the colors, except for the toe.
I may still take the toe apart and re-work it a bit. It came out really pointy and I prefer them a bit flatter. Fits good, though. Just have to make another.


Bee fields is progressing. Took a break to make the sock. It got to be a little boring. I'll be back at it this week.












Kitty city is growing. I'm not sure how. We had a bunch of spare parts and when DH saw them he added 2 more levels. The mayor was VERY pleased.















I'll leave you with a pic of some visitors we had this week. Damn long eared giant flower-eating rats! (there was actually another baby - twins) ARGH!

say hello......

.....to the mayor of kitty city. Mayor Mc Cheeze.
last weekend, we were out running around and we stopped at a yard sale. There it was. Kitty city, and only $1. Of course, you KNOW who had to take up residence and his birthright as the mayor! We have definitely gotten a $1 worth of entertainment from this!
Now we're on the hunt for more kitty city!
(honestly, I think we bought it because we just like saying it, kitty city, kitty city, kitty city.....)

Sorry, not much knitting content to show.....
it's been a difficult week and it's really hard to knit with a little needle-footed pest in your lap biting your yarn. (even if he IS the mayor).
working on bee fields........

this summer is flyin'

Wow! how did it get to be august already???
This week brought some new yarn.......



Someone needs to keep me off of the sanguine gryphon site. This is Z cerulea in skinny bugga. I intended it for an ishbel, but now I'm not sure, it's so beautiful.







After a few feeble attempts, I've finally got some traction on bee fields. Malabrigo lace - pearl ten. It's coming along nicely, but this is going to take a while to do right. That's OK, it's about the challenge of it.


I need to find something easy to knit at the fair. I'll be hanging out at the county fair for the master gardeners on friday. It's usually pretty quiet in the afternoons and good basic knitting time. Haveta search the stash.


Ozzie is fitting in pretty well. He's definitely going to be alpha kitty, although he has to wait his turn at the food dish. He's growing like a bad weed!

ahhh, some peace......

only a week later and the critters seem to be getting along better.













some knitting has been finished.
the mystery shawl - finished and blocked in all it's glory.















I'm trying to decide on my next project. Maybe the bee fields with the mal lace in pearl ten, or the girasole with the dream in color smooshy gold experience, or ishbel with that gorgeous skinny bugga I bought this week. Right now, the bee fields is winning out.........we'll just see.

not much knitting to show

but I have a great excuse! Meet Ozzie.....













he's a feisty little devil, with the meezer looks and the meezer VOICE!
there's been much barking and hissing in the last few days, but we seem to have reached an armed truce. "sigh" and, yes, he is a rescue from the humane society.
He'll fit in just fine.......

In the "I should have gotten more" category. Sanguine Gryphon bugga, blue lobster.
Really, I should have gotten more. It's such a beautiful blue/green, I just want to pet it and spread it out over the computer. Oh, and by the way, 20 percent cashmere.












Also, another round of the loopy ewe sock club. I wanted to do this club so that I could try different yarns and so far it's been great. The yarn is alchemy, the color "fall". It comes with a neck warmer pattern and a sock pattern. I think I like the socks better.......











And last but not least, not all yard sale scores are yarn. I probably scored enough reading material to keep me busy for quite a while.
Two twilight books, eclipse and breaking dawn,
a barbara kingsolver - laguna
Amy tan's the bonesetter's daughter
Dan Brown's the last symbol (this was my summer yard sale quest)
and the girl with the dragon tattoo
all for $6. Can't beat that!

I don't have too much yarn, no not me.......

What is it about hot weather that makes you want to sort your stash. Friday it was nearly 95 degrees here, so, out came the stash. OH MY! I think I liked it better when I didn't know. This is only the sock yarn. Do you think there's enough??? I'm proud of myself, I took it out, sorted it, photo'd it and put it on rav in my stash.













On the mystery shawl front, clue 3 is done and I'm now moving on to clue 4. One more to go next weekend. They only get more complicated as you go, so I'm not sure I'll be able to keep up and finish all in the same week. It's ok, really, since the loopy ewe sock club should ship this week, and I'm still working on the beaded bells socks (although there's not much progress there). The sock CSK also starts in august. I love the yarn the original socks are made with, not so much the color, but the idea that they're bamboo, but I think I'll dig through the stash. Suppose I might have SOMETHING I can use??



I also plan on being a bit busy this week, since hopefully the new baby (kitty) will come home on wed. Still have to deal with the BS at the pound, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed. He's the one in the middle of this kitten pig-pile with the brown ears and nose.


It's finally cooler, so yard work today for me.

happy 4th of july

first of all, let me say "bah, humbug". The 4th is quickly becoming one of my least favorite holidays. Maybe I'm just getting old, but I just can't understand the attraction to blowing things up, not to mention how much it just tormets the animals. I'd vote for making individual fireworks illegal and just having the big shows. It would save me a lot of money in doggie downers.

On the knitting front, the mystery shawl is coming along nicely. Clue #1 was easy, #2 nearly kicked my butt into quitting, but after ripping at least 3 times (can you say LIFELINE) I finally figured it out and now #3 is cruising along quite smoothly. I'd definitely do the mystery shawl again, maybe once per quarter?















I also started a sock kit that I bought at Summit (the gift that keeps on giving), beaded bells by dye dreams. There's no pattern or pic on ravelry, so you'll just have to wait until I get enough done to take a pic. Right now there's only about 1" of knitting and beads. I'm working on it between mystery shawl clues.



I made another yard sale score. It's hard to see, but these are some kind of cool "antique" sock blockers. The folks at the sale kept stressing that they were ANTIQUES, but willingly sold them to me for 50cents. I'll use them to block socks for DH, since they're a bit big.





Next up, the loopy ewe july sock club should ship late this week and August brings the beginning of Chrissy Gardiner's CSK. That should be a blast.
I also fell in love with this vest cloud chaser, and am seriously considering starting "bee fields" by anne hanson.

The baby kitty is over 2 lbs now, so he'll get fixed soon and released to go to a home. It's going to be all about the timing. I'll probably have to be there when they open the day they release them for adoption. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

the weather has finally turned around (for today)

There has been some knitting progress, though.
I finished the first clue in the mystery shawl, so far, so good.













I got the needed yarn and finished and blocked johnette's christmas socks.












I also finished the medusa cascade anklets. Kind of cute, aren't they?













and visited this little guy. He's still in foster care with his momma, but I'm hoping he'll get to come home with me in a couple of weeks. There's still some hurdles to jump here with the humane society, so I'm trying not to get too attached, but, how could you resist that face. (minus the devil eyes, of course)













no guarantee of how much knitting will happen this week, I've got clue #2 on the shawl to do....depends on the weather.

It was nearly a washout

Kit in public day was fun but it rained, rained rained. BUCKETS!
Good thing it was in a covered area.


Cinnamon brown made some new friends too.












Here's some UFO's from this week,
Johnette's gumdrop socks. Now I'm out of yarn. Seems to be a theme lately. A nice raveler from Alaska is sending me the little bit I need to finish. Good thing I don't need them until christmas.




The little sock on the top is the Medusa anklets. I needed a really simple project to knit in public, and I though these were really cute and perfect for the rest of the knitter's brewing co. yarn I won in the contest (the color is ... on the beach). There should be JUST enough to finish.

On the bottom is the first installment of the summer mystery shawl. It's coming along fine so far, in spite of being charted only. We'll see what happens when it grows to a couple hundred charted stitches. I'd like to get this clue done this week, there'll be another one next saturday. Looks like the weather's going to cooperate. It's supposed to RAIN BUCKETS some more.
:(

Ok, so, check THIS out......

going to yard sales is kind of like that old saying "you gotta kiss a lot of frogs". But, every once in a while, you find that little gem and the voice in your head says "SCORE!" Here's mine...





It's 4 skeins of Koigu KPPM and a whole bunch of heel reinforcing thread. The price? 50 cents. A good investment, I'd say. It's even yarn I'll use. And, yes, you can come yard sale-ing with me any time. The bus leaves at 7:30, you bring the coffee. I get dibs on the yarn! (I got the shell at a yard sale too - I love sea shells, fossils and rocks, I'm such a geek)


This week brought progress on a couple of things. The shawl is about as far as it will go without more yarn. I have to say I LOVE ravelry, though. When it seemed like there was not going to be enough, I got on the "in search of" board, and had my yarn in about 20 minutes. It won't be the same dye lot, but I'm at the edging and I think I can get away with a bit of a difference. If it matches REALLY well by some chance, I'll do another row of lace, we'll see.




The sock is "goody gumdrops" from the 2008 STR sock club. My friend Johnette fell in love with mine, so little does she know, she's getting 'em for christmas. Again, thanks to rav. I bought the yarn from someone's stash, with just this project in mind.


I'm also looking forward to the first installment of the summer mystery shawl. It starts this coming saturday, which, by the way, is knit in public day for the south sound. We're going up the road a piece to hang in a park, knit, and check out the promised booths and prizes. Should be a fun day.


I was also inspired to joing the CSK this week. It's a fun project by Chrissy Gardiner, designer. She's writing a new indie sock book and had this great idea for a sock pattern club with a year's worth of patterns from her future book. It's pretty cool. All indie dyers. With the pattern club, you get the patterns in pdf in advance and the price also includes a copy of the book when it's published. Couldn't help myself, just couldn't.

Don't know how much knitting will happen this week, the weather here is turning nice again, so, out to the yard before the weeds take over.

a little progress, a little stash enhancement

First the stash enhancement......
The newest Vogue magazine was waiting for me when I finally chased down the mailman.
Don't GET me started on the postal service. They were also hanging on to some yarn that came for me. See, now, it wouldn't have been all that bad, but there was YARN involved. NEVER come between a woman and her yarn!
L to Right, some traveller from the sanguine gryffon. This is a love-child color. I didn't get to pick it, and I'm not sure I love it. I do love the yarn base, though, and it's 560 yards, so a nice amount and good for man socks. The blue is laceweight from spinny bunny fibers. It's for the summer mystery KAL that starts june 19th. A shawl that will be my first attempt at chart knitting. We'll see how that goes. The third, light purple is a skinny bugga, also a love-child, one of a kind. It kind of reminds me of vancouver violet in the STR.













Next, the progress. This is Hamamelis, (rav link) in dream in color smooshy, gothic rose. A little early christmas knitting for my friend amy. It's going fast, or maybe it's just because it won't quit raining! The color is actually a bit darker. I just happened to catch the only 5 minutes of sun yesterday.










Speaking of rain, it's been great for the yard, in one way. It's turning into a jungle. Not so great for the yard in another way, it's turning into a jungle. I haven't been able to get out and weed for about 2 weeks now. I'm feeling like I'm going to have to start all over. The weeds are taking over!

I can't begin to say how much I love the oregon coast

Earlier this week, we packed the doggies in the car and took off for a little beach time, down on the oregon coast around Tillamook. My favorite place in the whole world.
It rained, the sun shone, and a good time was had by all.



We saw the cape mears lighthouse




and hung out on the beach, looking for agates. And, I have to say, found a whole bucketfull. I was one happy rock searcher.









On the way home, we stopped at a cool little yarn shop in portland called Twisted.
They had all their dream in color smooshy on sale 25percent off. Who can resist a good sale? This isn't really as orange as it looks. It's going to be a girasole. (some day)













And, as promised, the finished traveling sweater.....









Later, stash enhancements, Lace KAL, and Hammelies progress. (now where IS that damn mail man!?!)