Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Something NOT White



I did finish another spindle full of Princess Kate. I have been collecting every spindle's worth on some bobbins so I can ply one big amount all at once for this year's MD Sheep and Wool shawl which is more than likely to be a Haruni. The only glitch in the deal is that there is more than a good chance that I just might be GOING BACK TO WORK before then. Yes, I said it. WORK. W.O.R.K. A former co-worker is having a baby and needs a sub to fill in a big chunk of school time so I said I would do it starting in January. I have made plenty of MD Sheep and Wool shawls over the years during lunch while being gainfully employed so I shouldn't be worried about it but all the same-I am. My former knitting lunch bunch friends who will more than likely be my future knitting lunch bunch friends better keep me on track.

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Snow Blind



Both wheels have had white on them-since last summer.



How'd that happen?
I do have one more wheel that is empty but I can't justify starting anything else until I do something about all that white.
I'm so bored.

Monday, November 28, 2011

Down By the Bay



Sometimes I forget that I live in a very picturesque little area on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay.



Every once and a while when I have to take pictures of something outside, I remember how pretty it is around here.



Most of the time I just take it all for granted.



I got up early to take pictures of Son's cruise ship heading back to Baltimore yesterday. I missed it but I did get some pretty photos of everything all dolled up for the holidays.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Too Much of a Good Thing



I attacked the entire house yesterday. Every closet, cabinet and assorted nook or cranny got seriously violated. Of course that meant that all the hidden stash got sorted through and much of it got tossed. This is just one of several giant piles headed for the trash. I have finally managed to convince myself I do NOT need to keep every bit of yarn I have ever spun or all of the leftover fiber I spun it with.



I also have a teeny tiny craft room that is at the moment unusable due to serious clutter issues. On this beautiful Thanksgiving weekend, I should being giving thanks for owning all this wonderful stuff but right now I am just mad at myself for my lack of organization skills. I am also wrestling with the fact that Cyber Monday is right around the corner and this year I do NOT need to add to my stash in any way shape or form. Right?

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Movember



Daughter's new husband was growing a spectacular 'stash to raise awareness for prostate cancer and other male health issues when our lastest family wedding got in the way. She made him shave it off. It was sad.



This week, I discovered that people on Ravelry were doing their part to support the Movember movement, with sticks and strings, of course. These are the two worst looking things ever made by sticks and strings but it's the thought that counts.



Me minus two nights sleep due to a pup with a sick tummy. I really don't need to wear this silly thing, I've been sprouting enough facial hair to grow my own since menopause. Ugh...



I wasn't the only one getting into the spirit.



The 1.1 million Mo Bros out there have raised $174 million bucks for research since 2004 changing the face of men's health. Speaking of changing the face of men, Son really knows how to rock that 'stash, doesn't he?

Friday, November 25, 2011

Gobble Day Rerun



I was more than happy to hand Thanksgiving dinner over to the younger generation this year. After one engagement party, two bridal showers, two rehearsal dinners and one bachelorette party, I am over arranging parties for a while. Daughter and Son Number Two were glad to put together a very memorable meal. Son Number One and his new wife are floating around the Atlantic, still on their honeymoon.



Daughter offered up her home to host the event. Mine is a disaster. It looks like a Hobby Lobby/Party City combo at the moment.



Her new hubby cooked the bird and four desserts. Son made an array of amazing veggie side dishes. The polenta stacked with kale was delicious, not to mention the Brussel sprouts with maple glaze. Daughter set a beautiful table with all her new kitchenware. I am envious. Between her shower and her wedding she pretty much owns the contents of a Crate and Barrel.



I am at home again now, watching Gaga's Thanksgiving special, wondering why I didn't bring home a big hunk of this made-from-scratch pumpkin cheesecake. It was really good.

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Happy Gobble Day!



I've been up all night knitting these turkeys just to have something to blog about today. Not.
I found these here. If you Google Image knitted turkeys you get quite a few to choose from. Who'd have thought?

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Stash Buster



The problem you get when you knit from your stash is that you have to end up making do with some weird colors. This major stash addition came from an Aunt's passing who had a closet full of vintage Red Heart Super Savers.



I am trying to keep to the colors in the original sampler pattern but my green and orange and Barbara G. Walker's green and orange are very different. Hers are bright while mine are straight out of a 1970's kitchen-burnt orange and avocado. I'm sticking to my stash busting plan so it may look a little on the funky side but it won't have cost me a penny.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

The Hook Bug



Crocheting all those flip flops for my new daughter in law's bridal shower gave me the urge to continue on with the hookie thing. My Vanna hexie afghan has been gathering dust for a long while but now she is back in business. The only thing I hate besides its dustiness making me sneeze (for real) is the color choices. I hate making color choices. I am no good at making random hexies work together. I should have made some sort of plan and stuck with it because trying to figure out which hexie to put where is taking a lot of the fun out of this project.

Monday, November 21, 2011

A Room With a View



I was in Baltimore this weekend for the wedding of Number One Son and his Lovely Lady. We stayed in the Renaissance Hotel. The view of Charm City was spectacular.



Early on the morning of the wedding, I got up before everyone else to fix some knitting I had muffed up in the car on the way there. Someone doesn't like me to knit when I am supposed to be giving directions so some issues cropped up from my hasty retreat.



Happily it was quickly back on the needles in one piece where it stayed until we got home. I learned my lesson about lace and cranky car rides through city traffic. It's not worth the risk for just a few more inches.



Right outside our window and to the right of the harbor was the Occupy Baltimore Camp. I know so many people in several different Occupy groups over on Ravelry are donating knitted items to the protestors but I didn't have anything but that lace scarf with me and somehow that just seemed wrong-not to mention the fact that it's not mine to give.

If you want to see more of our wedding weekend go visit me at the soon to disappear Mother of the Bridezilla blog here.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Another Big Day!


Today I am in Baltimore on a Carnival Cruise ship being the Mother of the Groom. I was surprisingly very stoic during Daughter's wedding several weeks ago but the idea of Number One Son (who is also Number One Kid) tying the knot is wreaking havoc on my mother's heart. They grow up too fast, don't they?

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Tah de Dah de Doo Dah



No it's not done. It's just that I get to make a color change. I've been on blue for over a year now so getting to move onto green is a big deal. At least to me.

Friday, November 18, 2011

All Alone-AGAIN!



This mangy thing is what is left of my favorite pair of mitts. I have already posted about losing one at Rhinebeck way back in 2009. I was heart broken about leaving it behind. I knit a replacement and wouldn't you know it-it's come up missing. I know when I'm beat so I am retiring this guy.



It's not really a problem because I found the time to finally cast on my Dalhousie mitts. I am planning ahead this time and making three-maybe even four. Good thing I bought plenty of yarn.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Another Tangled Skein Knit Night



Our little group met once again at A Tangled Skein. It's exhilarating and a little intimidating to be surrounded by so much yarn and so many knitters. All you have to do is mention a pattern and someone out of nowhere chimes in with the details. Bizarre. I suppose I'll get used to it, but for solitary knitters like me, it's all a bit surreal.



I don't think I have ever been in a group of more than 4 or 5 knitters at a time-if you don't count the Sheep and Wool Festival because I never knit there. I just couldn't. Even stranger, this was probably only my fifth time in a yarn shop in my entire life. My knitting life began with mail order and blossomed with the internet. That's worked out pretty well for me because my house looks an awful lot like this yarn shop.



The best part of tonight was that I got to revisit someone's vintage knitting bag. This bag has been an object of desire for me for a while now. I love it. I want it but I can't find one like it. I'm going to have to make one. It's just such a comfortable looking bag. It's the kind of bag you take out when you want to knit away on something relaxing. I could use some relaxing right now so I am sure that is why the bag is so appealing.



As for knitting, someone was making some mitts. Green Thumb mitts to be exact. I don't know this because of the conversation but because I can read the name on the photograph I took. The conversation was mostly about chocolate tonight.



The owner of the vintage bag had finished her baby hat. It looked cute on her but cuter on this rather melancholy looking bunny.



She is working on some matching um...er, mittens? Again, we talked a lot about chocolate tonight. The knitting was just sort of happening around us.



There was a finished sock that was greatly admired for its major stretchability. Ribbing that does what it is supposed to do is a wonderful thing.



I really had to get a few pattern repeats on the new lace project so I tried not to be too talkative. You can't keep track of lace and talk-at least I can't. I was behind schedule on it today because Son's weekend wedding had me running around doing errands all day. Next week we will all be on Thanksgiving break so we'll have two whole weeks to get things finished for our next show and tell.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Another Lapful of Lace



After finishing the two wedding wraps, I swore I would take a break from lace for a long while but it's a habit that is hard to break.



I have my lace knitting routine down so well that the hole was hard to fill. When asked to start a project intended for someone else, I jumped at the chance. Webs had the yarn at my doorstep in minutes.




This is a Silky Alpaca Lace Scarf in Rowen's Fine Lace one of two lace projects I started this week.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Indian Summer



I spent the summer solar dyeing lots of Corriedale locks. Between the weddings and the nasty weather nothing very interesting ever came of them and I had been feeling really bad about it.



Fall is for being outside and playing with wool and today was one of the few days in recent memory that it felt good to be outside. It was a beautiful day so I drug out the drum carder and proceeded to make short work of a few colorful locks.



With no real plan in mind, I just cranked a few through the machine and hoped for the best.



Pulling the batt off of the carder reminded me of a Muppet. I'm not sure which one, but I've seen this hair before.



I pulled the batt into strips and wound them up for future adventures in spinning.



One little batt made quite a few colorful little nests.



For another batt, I pulled out the diz and pulled some roving straight off the drum carder.



Not bad for a few hours worth of work on an absolutely gorgeous day. Where do I have to move to get weather like this all the time?

Monday, November 14, 2011

An Adventure in Unknitting



Quiet Sunday mornings are the perfect time to catch up on old projects. I had a pair of socks on a long circular needle that was not turning out the way I wanted. So I decided to frog them. Pulling the yarn out of 2 socks at a time when you are knitting from only one ball is a giant tangle of a nightmare. Not having enough hands to do the job, I had to enlist the furniture to help. It was painfully slow going.



After pulling the yarn out and separating it, I had to figure out how to pull it off the chair. It was wound inside out and still just one continuous strand. I carefully pushed it onto my nostepinne while hoping for the best.



I managed to locate the beginning and rewind it all onto a paper tube.



I could breathe easier once it was all safe and sound.



Here is the reason for all the drama. I had begun a pair of socks with the green handspun and had planned to switch to the pink at the heel. Yuck. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but once I got to the heel I knew this was a stupid idea and a waste of some pretty handspun. I worked hard handpainting the singles last summer and they deserved better.
The green has been rewashed and is hanging to dry. It will be socks again but this time instead of half green and half pink, I think I'm going for stripes or maybe even some Fair Isle.