Another Slippery Slope

 Two years ago at the MDSW, The Mister bought these do-dads for making primitive hooked rugs. Being a latch hook kind of guy, he never warmed up to any of it.

I'm not going to say I picked it up out of boredom because with all I have to do every day I never get bored. I picked it up because I am...well, um...insane. It's the only reasonable explanation.

I was actually trying to convince a bored Mister that this was fun. It is-but I don't want him to think it is fun anymore because I want to do it. Me.

He bought all these lovely wool pieces that you have to cut into narrow strips to use like yarn and you can put them anywhere you want, It's like painting with wool.

What's not to like about this?

Crazy

The crazy sweater now has a crazy sleeve. Of course those stripes were going to do crazy things once the circumference grew smaller.

You know it is only going to get even crazier when the other sleeve turns out with completely different stripes. It's going to be one crazy rainbow explosion.

Thrumming Along

 I finally found a quiet minute to figure out this thrumming thing but I needed a little help.

The You Tube video walked me through every step.

It was very helpful.

Before I knew it I had a small pile of slightly wonky thrums.

I didn't really have enough thrums to get very far but I was eager to see if they worked.

To my surprise, they did.

 Aren't they cute?

Look at that cozy inside. I'm betting that next winter I will be making lots more of these.

In Like a Lion

I hate March. It is a long month full of bad weather, bad tempers and for the most part mud and wind.
I am trying to stay as positive as possible by focusing on the one and only thing to look forward to-St Patrick's Day. No, I'm not Irish but I pretend I am on March 17th.

Ages ago Daddio filled a bucket with Irish flag colored paper pieces so I am slowly but surely working my way through them while dreaming of warmer weather.There is nothing fancy going on with them. I am just putting blocks together for a simple table runner that will most likely be done by next St Patrick's Day.

 If you haven't caught the paper piecing bug yet and have no idea what I am talking about, take a look at the back and it becomes clear. Daddio covers the stock paper squares and then we I whip stitch them together to create quilt blocks that fit together without any fancy math or sewing. It's relaxing and portable quilting which for knitters would be like making plain socks-only with fabric and much sharper needles.

Bass Ackwards

The mathematical equations I used a few weeks ago to successfully divide a bobbin into two equal halves was off to a promising start with more of the same fiber.

The only problem was that it didn't work. At. All. I had way too much left over on one bobbin.

I broke off the 2 singles feeding into the bobbin on the wheel so that one end was longer than the other. That would making splicing the ends with the leftovers easier, I hoped. I wound off the leftover bobbin with the ball winder so I would get a center pull ball.

The splicing went well and so did the spinning from both ends.

I held my breath when I got to the inner "guts". If you are going to get a tangle, this is where it will be.

Whew. I made it.

Now I have a teeny tiny skein that was supposed to get my next shawl started. The only problem with this is that I forgot it is a top down shawl and I wanted the darkest of the colors on the bottom. Doh....insert head smack here.

Out to Pasture

The outdoor rink season is sadly over and I just want to end it by saying how much I love my skates. I really, really do. It seems like only yesterday they were brand new, shiny and white and rubbing blisters all over my feet. It took a long time to break them in and no time at all to break them down. The outdoor ice was particularly challenging to the dear old things.

Every inch of them has had it.

Even the tongues are ripping off.

 Speaking of the tongues, just look at the insides. Yuck.

Working with groups of little skaters left the sides full of gouges. The kiddies skate right over you and kick you quite often.

 The blades died years ago. No one would sharpen them anymore so I have had to do it by hand.

I love these skates but I need to replace them. At about $700 (yes, you read that right-that's a lot of yarn) this is much easier said than done. I had always said that when the time came to retire these skates I would be done with this skating thing-but I am not exactly ready. It's a good thing I put all that money I made teaching classes this season aside because I know what it is going to be used for. Blisters-and lots of them.

Undine

Now that my baby knits are done, my knitting in public bag is empty. Daddio has three-count'em three-doctor's appointments this week so this is a catastrophe.

Wandering Cat was sweet enough to gift me this lovely sock yarn so it only made sense to cast on one of her lacy sock patterns. I really needed some lacy sock knitting after all the rustic handspun I turned into socks over the past few months. I am really sick of ribbing and these socks have NONE.

Just look at this. This is only one day's worth of knitting. I couldn't stop. I just had to keep putting on the rows every chance I got. I am already on the heel flap as we speak and this sock was born only yesterday. As a rule, I lose interest after about 15 minutes of knitting-but just look at those colors. Makes you think of early spring buds ready to burst into bloom. Of course there was a dilemma early on when I convinced myself they were going to be too small. For the longest time I thought long and hard about getting up and getting some larger needles and starting over. It was a good thing I was too lazy to go get the other needles because now that there is enough material to show the stretch, these are going to fit perfectly.

This is Undine and you can find the free pattern here and some of this gorgeous hand dyed yarn here.