Bummer

My poor son. I feel so bad for the boy. He has had a fever for several days so we decided to call the doctor. They wanted to see him and after doing so diagnosed him with pneumonia. Which means that we had to cancel his birthday party on Sunday. This made him so sad and that broke my heart. By the end of the day he had come to accept it but still it makes me sad to see him so upset.

That being said I spent my day consoling my son and therefore did not get a blog post done and managed to only knit one row on the sock. So here is the knitting for the last two days:

Stupid teeth

A few days ago I woke up with an odd feeling in my teeth, like I had slept with shims in between them. Slowly over the next few days one tooth started to be very sensitive to cold and even the act of air passing over it. Anyway long story short I went in to the dentist today and the good news is it's not a cavity. The bad news is it could be worse. It's either a dying tooth (dentist doesn't think this is it and let's hope not) or perhaps the way I grind my teeth at night is affecting it. Either way it will probably cost about 500 bucks minimum to solve the problem (night guard or root canal).
Anyway here is the sock progress for yesterday's knitting:

Moving forward

Progress! This sock is knitting up wonderfully! Can't wait to put them on me feet. Now, back to Battlestar Galactica while I knit.

Did you hear that?

That was the sound of my knitting hitting the frog pond. I finally admitted to myself that the stitch pattern was getting lost in the beautiful coloring of the yarn and because I am testing the pattern for the designer I wanted to be sure her beautiful design could be seen. Also, cables seem to be a bit of a challenge for me so I don't want to go to the trouble of a cable if it can't be seen. I did not post yesterday as it seemed silly to do a progress update on something that lost ground to the point it doesn't exist anymore. On the plus side the new sock is knitting up much faster. I don't know if it's because of the different yarn or because I have started this sock 4 times now (1st was wrong #of sts cast on - this is why designers have their patterns tested - to catch little typo's like this; 2nd was I realized it was coming out too big; 3rd I CO weird and couldn't fix it so here we are on the 4th go). I am really glad I chose to start again. I am much happier with the results.

Two more

As the day before I only knit two rows yesterday but those rows did finish up the first half of the pattern repeat. I worry that the pattern will be a bit lost in the coloring of the yarn. We will see.

Two Rows

Yup two rows is all I got in yesterday so I am not going to bore anyone with another horrible phone picture of essentially the same damn thing as yesterday...Hopefully I make more progress than that tonight...we shall see.

New Socks

So the current knitting is a pair of socks. I am conducting a test knit for a Ravelry designer. I really like this pattern - it is simple enough to be easy complex enough I won't get bored. If you are a wiz at cabling this one is probably a do in your sleep pattern.

Briefly

Just a quick fly by to show you a couple of things.
Before our camping trip I used some of the leftovers from Abby's Coat to make a coat for my teapot:Yesterday I finally finished these socks! It only took me a year and a half. They were nice and simple enough that I got the majority of the fishishitup knitting done by the campfire on our trip.
And I don't know how I failed to start a Ravelry page or blog about it but a while ago I started this:
and have been plugging away at it a little here and there for several months now. The pattern is Triinu from Knitted Lace of Estonia.
Also the weaving on the Sheep to Shawl sample scarf is almost done!

Good Food and Some Socks

Lately we have been eating well, thanks to my husband who is a wizard in the kitchen. First he found a recipe for leek and apple stuffing that he stuffed some pork chops with and it was incredible! I didn't take a picture since we devoured it so fast.
Next up are those peas that I planted, I am so giddy that they are alive and well and producing yummy peas!

The peas have been great snacks for me and the kids to munch on (not really enough for a meal coming off of the vine at one time).

About a week after the pork chops Brian decided he wanted to try the apple and leek stuffing as a dressing to be served with mashed potatoes, gravy and chicken, so he roasted some chicken breasts on the bone and used the drippings to make gravy. Now I must say that I am a fan of gravy, particularly gravy on mashed potatoes and I am pretty sure if I could choose only one food to ever eat again it would be mashed potatoes and gravy. I now know that it would be this gravy I would request. This has got to be the absolute best gravy I have ever had, hands down. The chicken was damned good too.

I don't even think he cooked this one with a recipe I think he just pulled it out of his head, it was spectacular.

Again I don't have a picture, but the meal we made with the rest of the chicken was chicken pot pies. I think that it was one of my better batches and I am getting a little better every time I make it (unlike Brian who seems to be able to hit it out of the park on the first try most of the time).

So, raise your glass to some good food!

Oh, and I finished my socks! I started these puppies in February but really took my time getting the second one done, but here they are:

Stuff I've been doing this week

So a while ago I made a hat for Jake and he really liked it but did not like wearing it. Originally it was way to big so I frogged it and cast back on with fewer stitches...making it too small. It's cute and it sorta fits but it's a stretch.

It does however fit Abby perfectly and she loves it to the point that she screamed and had a fit the last time I tried to put it on Jacob. So now it's Not Jake's Hat.I think the best part is that the ear ties are long enough they come to her knees with the tassels on them. It is really cute.

I finished up the yarn I was spinning on the Turkish and finally got started knitting the scarf I have been eyeing for a while. Here it is, almost done (keep in mind it is not blocked yet so it will look even better after that happens).While I was on Orcas with the kids I brought my spinning wheel and finallly started spinning the Faukland fiber I bought from Jeannie. It was a real challenge to spin worsted after having spun laceweight but I think I got fairly close. If anything it is a little chunkier than I planned but it will still make a fun sweater for Abby.The first fiber braid is all spun and plyed. One more to go. I think it's a total of 8oz.

I also finally got my ass in gear and ripped back the socks I made for Brandi for Christmas (they were too long). and got them sorted out. Hopefully they fit now. If not I am just starting from scratch.

Ok, so we all know I need a new hobby like I need a hole in the head but....

At the monthly spinning guild meeting one of the ladies was giving out free weaving yarn - the only catch was that she wanted to see something woven with it by I think June...Well I have had a loom in my craft closet for about 6 years now and have never taken it out of the box. I figured that if the yarn was free and the loom was free, I really didn't have anything to lose. So I checked out a book on Rigid Heddle Weaving from the guild library and brought it home. That was Tuesday night. By midmorning Wednesday I learned that I needed a way to wind my warp. Since I don't have a warping board I improvised:The only complaint I would have about the Tinker Toy method is that now they make the darned things out of plastic (great if you need to block your yarn...)and so the 'dowels' started to bend a little as I got close to the top (wouldn't have happened if I wasn't using as much tension) which caused the warp to be slightly shorter on one end - live and learn. Next time I am definitely using the single post warping method.
By Wednesday evening this is what I had after teaching myself to warp the loom and making myself some shuttles out of cardboard:

Last night I pulled this off of the loom:This morning I finished tying the warp threads. In about a week I have made a sampler. It is ugly as I am not hot on the color choice but it was free, what can I say. I tried out a few things and am glad to be over the initial learning curve. Here is a closeup of a couple of things I tried:
Now it's all about fine tuning. Next up will be a plaid scarf. We'll see how that goes.
I also learned about halfway through that the cardboard shuttles were simply not cutting it as they were snagging often enough to be so irritating I didn't want to weave. So I grabbed a balsa wood stick and got out the old Xacto knife and sandpaper and made myself some nice (smooth and lightweight) shuttles. I also remembered what a pain in the ass it was threading the heddle with a teensy tiny crochet hook that would only go into the heddle about 1 inch before it got too think not to mention the head being so small it would not work on anything thicker than laceweight yarn. So I made me a heddle hook to:
Ain't I crafty?

Some Productivity

I have been rather addicted to my little turkish drop spindle. Ron (Brian's step-dad) noticed and made me a couple more! I am impressed and I am ready to start spinning on them...For now I don't have pics but I'll take some soon.

Also I finished the singles on my second skein of the alpaca on Friday and yesterday I plyed and set the twist so this morning I have more yarn! I have also decided what I am going to do with it...I will be making a lacy scarf by Nancy Bush. The pattern is called A Stork's Nest Scarf and it can be found in the Knititing Traditions special that was recently put out by Interweave Press.

I have been really inspired by Nacy Bush's Knitted Lace of Estonia that I got for Christmas and will be knitting several of the patterns from there as soon as I finish the Fountain Pen Shawl that I am working on for Julie. I had set is aside for a while and getting this book has really inspired me to work on it again.

I also decided to make some socks for Abby with the yarn leftover from my Soxual Persuasion socks...I am using the same pattern with one less pattern repeat so they are 40 stitches around instead of 60. They should fit her just right.

Lots of stuff because I'm catching up.

Things I've recently learned:

1. WinCo has fabulous quality meats.

2. I can use my drop spindle while simultaneously making tea and pouring cereal.

3. When a toddler is having a tantrum and slamming her hand on her highchair tray - she can cause it to 'rain' macaroni and cheese in brief spurts.

4. Macaroni and cheese sticks like napalm and dries like concrete.

5. The beans that you and your toddler are making sprout (to see things grow) that 'don't take' ferment.

6. No matter how hard you wish for it dishes don't do themselves (wait, I think I've said that before...ok well, maybe this time I'll learn it for real).

My children have learned:

Abby: How to remove one's diaper but also how to give kisses and to wave/say bye bye

Jacob: Selfishness but also kindness and very early math skills

My husband has learned:

It really is possible to pick up a 7-10 split (go ahead, ask him how he knows) :)

Ok and now for the crafty shit that you are either 1: waiting for or 2: skipping over...

Last Thursday Abby and I attended Madrona Fiber Arts Festival. I wish I could say it was to take one of the incredible classes that were offered, but alas, I was just there to shop (gee darn).Next year I do hope to get into a couple of classes though.

I purchased some fun stuff but did not go totally insane like I did last year.

I bought:

- a set of dpn protectors so I can stop gouging myself everytime I reach into my purse.

- a diz and pull hook for pulling my combed wool into roving (yay!)

- a handy little project bag that I can't believe I payed 22 bucks for when I could have made it myself for 87 cents.(but now I can make myself a couple since I have something to refrence).

- a packet of 'exotic' fibers that include 1/4 each of cashmere/silk, baby alpaca, yak/merino, silk/rayon, baby camel/merino and cashmere. all of these I would consider to be luxury fibers and it's a great way to 'try out' a bunch of fibers without committing to a larger purchase. I can spin these and know if I would like to make the commitment to buy more yak or camel...

- 4.5 oz of alpaca in a sorta white color...it's the natural fiber (no dyes, etc.) and I am really loving how soft it is and how fine it is spinning up on my new...
- Turkish spindle. this was my most expensive purchase but well worth the 45 bucks. It is a Turkish Delight from Jenkins Woodworking and my oh my am I in love! It is lightweight (.9 oz) so I can spin nice and fine. It is made of beautiful Purple heart wood with a maple shaft. Here she is...don't have a name for her yet, but she truly is a delight.

Some in progress singlesand the 2ply center pull ball that you get when you take the spindle apart from inside the ball (neatest trick ever I tell ya!)After I finished plying the singles back on themselves to get that center pull ball I then skeined it onto my swift so I could a: get approximate yardage and b: set the twist in the yarn. However I love this little ball so much I am thinking I might just wind it back onto the spindle rather than using my ballwinder before using it.
Here is the hank drying in the window...hopefully you can see the halo the yarn has:It also has a lovely luster that is not showing up in this photo.

That is the fun I have been having with my new spindle. Just before Sock Wars started I finished plying and setting this yarn:I am currently vacillating between loving it and hating it. Here's why:
1. It was supposed to be a sock yarn and when all was said and done it came out bigger. On the wheel it was fine, but it bloomed so much during the setting process that it is too big to use for socks (or the socks I had envisioned anyway). This bums me out because it is the first bit of spinning I had a complete vision from roving to final product in my head for.
2. The colors gradate from red to orange to yellowish green to blue and back again. I like this but am not sure I love the colors overall. They are kindof cartoony. I think half of you were lying when you said you loved it. Now keep in mind when it's knit up the red won't fall next to the blue or green so forth...it will progress from one color to the next.
3. It turned out super soft and squishy. would make a lovely sweater but there is certainly not enough yarn here for that (and then there is the color issue)...
Anyway so that is that.

Beyond the spinning has been the knitting. More socks. Shocker I am sure. I am halfway through the 2nd pair for Iron Knitter. I am officially 'out' of the competition because I did not finish the whole pair on time, but I will continue to particpate in subsequent rounds for fun. So here is the first finished sock - first from the front/top with the vine/leaf pattern:
And from the side with the diamond pattern:This is the first time I worked a picot edge (the top of the sock) and I really like the way it works...I need to figure out how to turn the hem as I go though because I am really not in love with finishing the sock and then having more finishing up to do. I kinda like that once you are done grafting and weaving in the end you can wear 'em out the door.
This pattern is called Wishing for Spring and can be purchased via Ravelry. I will say though that I did find numerous mistakes in the pattern and hopefully some of them are fixed by the time the pattern is published.

What? I've been busy.

Knitting that is.

I have been in Sock Wars...knitting like mad I tell you. I have knit 3 socks (plus 2inches) in the last 15 days. For me that is quit a lot at once. Not to mention the first of those socks was a size 10 (so a big sock). It was for my 'target' in sock wars. Basically the game is like 'assassins' - You are assigned a target and try to 'kill' (in this case knit and mail a pair of socks) before your assassin kills you. I did not finish my socks before receiving my 'death socks' in the mail. So I wrapped them off and sent them to my assassin who is now knitting them for my target. Lots of fun but I picked a difficult pattern and it went much slower than I anticipated. A lot of it comes down to luck (how fast your assassin's assassin knits, how slow is the postal service, etc.) but either way I am dead.

The second part of the competition is called Iron Knitter. The game basically goes like this: at a certain time a clue sheet is released. once you solve all of the clues and email your answers back to the "Supreme Commander" she sends you the sock pattern. Then you knit that pattern as fast as you can. The first 90 % of players to finish move on to round two. Round 2 will begin tomorrow with another clue sheet to be released around 1pm EST (10am my time) and then an unknown at this point percent of players will move to round 3.

What I have learned thus far from this competition is that I am much slower knitter than I originally thought. I am going to have to knit faster if I want to stay in th e competition for much longer.

Once I finished my Iron Knitter socks (my new favorite socks ever!) I finished up some spinning.

I'll try and get some more pics up soon. No garuntee's when that will be since the competition rev's back up again soon!

Computers and Socks

My computer decided to be a brat for a while there during which I could either have A)internet connectivity or B)color. After several fix attempts including trying several restore points and preparing to completely wipe the hard drive, my darling husband fixed the stupid thing by wiping only my windows profile and creating a new one. Very little was lost in the process and all pics were backed up thank goodness. But it works again!

In other news Sock Wars V is in full swing and I am on my way! This particular pattern is a bit slow going but I am loving how it looks. Here is my progress thus far:

What I got goin' on

Knitting:

Scarf in linen stitch from my handspun.

Lace shawl.

Simplicity socks.

and of course the new obsession.

Spinning:On the wheel some nice roving that will become some nifty color shifting socks

On the spindles I have:

some pinkish/lavenderish silk
Some merino/silk
and some more merino/silk
Toddler Stuff:Abby's newest words: Uh-oh. Thank You. (bringing her total vocabulary to about 3 words besides momma, dada, and Jacob) The other word is Down.

Jacob's newest words: Fabulous. Shit (only once. Mom's fault). Delicious. Impossible. Dork Fish (repeatedly. Dad's fault). Tool (not the hammer kind. also Dad's fault). Adorable (looking at pictures of when we brought Abby home). Startled. Privacy. Herbivore. Pteranodon. Tyrannosaurus.

Which leads me to his imagination. I had dinner with a Pteranodon, a Tyrannosaurus, a dog, a duck, a cat, a bear, an owl and a goose all in one sitting and at one point I was a Pteranadon and a bear.

Goals:

Not so much into the resolution thing but there are a few things I would like to do this year and see no reason not to.

1. I would like to finish a few quilts I have in the works

2. I would like to finish a few bears I have in the works. Maybe make a few more.

3. I would like to get to a farmers market and sell a few things.

4. I would like to get my tummy into shape. I am by no means overweight but I have a bit of a belly from having the kids and it bothers me so I am going to try to fix it.

5. I would like to train myself to keep up with the housework so that I am free to do things like spin and quilt and knit without either a: feeling guilty or b: doing 2 hours of housework first. You'd think I'd have figured out by now that wishing for it won't make the laundry and dishes done and ignoring it won't make it go away.

6. I would like to try to be more social. I need to get out and make it to knitting on Fridays and spinning once a month. Not that hard, I just need to DO it. Besides getting out more will probably improve my mental health too.

Next up: teaching a new knitter.

Recovery

So we are home from Orcas and starting to get a handle on things. I finished the Christmas socks with and hour to spare...think I have some pics somewhere...I'll post those later.
The kids made out like bandits and we probably spent 2-3x more than we needed to. I got a ton of spinning fiber and some yarn and some new spinning/knitting books.
Got the tree taken down last night and all of the needles vacuumed up. Now I just need to take down the outside lights and I can put away Christmas until next - I mean this year! Yikes Welcome to 2010. Hope it's a wonderful year.
I think I'll go and do my dishes so I can start the year off with a respectably clean house.

Christmas socks

Sooo I am working on some socks as a Christmas gift and I have just turned the heel's (doing 2 at at time). It feels like they are going so darned slow...I have a feeling this will be another down to the wire project...I really hope to have them done so I don't have to present them 'on the needles.' 4 days...damn...ok gotta go knit. At some point I am going to have to start wrapping gifts and that is really gonna cut into the knitting time.

Crafty Stuff

Spent most of the weekend shopping for Christmas and we are almost done...Just 5 more people to cover...plus I need to finish the socks for someone (ok I need to start them. Yes I do know there are only 11 days until Christmas. I guess I better knit fast). On that note the mate for this sock:Is on hold until said pair are finished.

I made a really cute hat for Jake...I went sans pattern so it is a bit tight on his head but if I remember how I did it, Abby's will fit perfectly (I think I cast on 70). I may just make his Abbys since he really doesn't like to wear it (say it ain't so) and it fits her well (and it has a bit more purple than blue in it - didn't see that in the dim light of the shop).

On Saturday my friend Alexis met me at the craft shop and we bought stuff to make some handbags. They turned out really cute! Here is mine:

and you can see hers on her blog here. I actually finished mine on Sunday as we were running short on time and I am the one that keeps the sewing machine at the end of the day :)

On Thursday I finished filling the cop on my drop spindle so here is hank#3 of my Ring Around the Rosie yarn that will become some socks for me someday...Probably pair this yarn with some black and either use this pattern: or just to a simple sock with black cuff, heel and toe.

Sooo I am off to start a pair of socks...in parting I thought I'd show you the pic I was able to snap of Santa and his Reindeer:

On the bright side.

I am knitting socks as a Christmas gift for someone and having finished the first one have discovered that in addition to it being a color I would never normally pick out for myself but turn out to love, the darned things fit me perfectly and will be too small for their intended recipient.
I have decided to complete the pair for myself and start over for my gift reciever. Sooo Yay a new pair of socks for me. Bummer is I thought I was going to be totally done with these before I started my Christmas shopping. Oh well. I guess it is good practice for Sock Wars. I have learned I can churn out one whole sock in less than 3 days, including interruptions from things like feeding, bathing and general care of two toddlers and one husband (one of the fish was a casualty however, but I think that was because the cat is trying to scare them to death, and succeeded, not because I have neglected them (completely). The other fish is fine). I think sock #2 will go faster as I have the pattern memorized now too. I guess I should actually check guage before I start the gift socks again...

Catch Up

Ok so I finally finished my socks yesterday so I can blog now...plus I had to do that whole mom thing and keep the kids in food and clean clothes. The pic is a bit blurry but it's the best one I have right now: So last weekend we had Abby's 1st Birthday party. It was fun - lots of food and friends. Brian made some yummy meatballs and I made an artichoke dip that I love so much I might have to make it every week.

First we ate and then Abby opened presents (with a little help of course):

Then we gave her cake. Here is the cake before AbbyZilla:Here is AbbyZilla spotting the cake:Mmmmm this is yummy - now can I have a hug?Oh and we can't have cake without playing the 'tummy drums' And then there was the bath...let me tell you something, frosting is made with shortening, which means it's greasy and leaves a nice skin of oil on everything...had to bring the dish soap up to clean the tub when all was said and done.
The biggest hit of the party was the tea set that Brian picked out for Abby - mostly among the boys - the girls were off hammering on the tool bench and playing with trucks (ok they were really putting together a puzzle, but still).There is Jacob pouring a cup of tea for Caden.