Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Last Day of the Month

I keep promising pictures of what I'm knitting and I keep falling short. The good news is: I have finished the sock samples for our local crafts store and have turned them in. That means that I can actually knit what I want, when I want now. I'm so excited I hardly know what to do with myself.

Of course, today I realized it was the last day of the month and that at the end of next month I have a baby shower for my sister-in-law. I'd better get working on her baby gift. So, until I get sick of it, that's what will be on my radar for now. All it looks like so far is a big pink mass of yarn but as soon as I make any headway whatsoever, I'll post some pictures so you can see what it looks like.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Patience my Lovelies

I was planning to post again this week with pictures of what I'm knitting with the beautiful yarn I dyed with the black food coloring.

Unfortunately, planning for the step-sister's baby shower and critter-sitting have taken precedence. So, all my lovely readers, you will have to wait until I return from yet another busy weekend. I hope you can contain your excitement.

Let me just leave you with this:

Last week, a tornado ripped through the town of Wadena, MN. It was believed to be an F4. The landscape of the town is completely changed. I have family there and luckily they are all ok and do not have damage to their homes. The problem is that all their school buses and the high school were destroyed and the school is too old to be repaired. Hence, they are trying to find a way to get help. I don't know if it will work or not, but there's a possibility that if you are on Facebook and you post a comment here:
Facebook link
Then they may be able to get help for their school. Its not a sure thing but any little thing helps. If you are on Facebook and/or are so inclined, please go and comment.

Thank you.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Tuesdays really are for Crocheting

Here I am following up with my goal to post more often.

Today's Tuesday and those of you who have been following for awhile know that Tuesdays are for Crocheting because I moderate an Open Crochet Night at our local crafts store.

So, here it is, a crochet project. This is a baby blanket for my Step-sister who is due very, very soon.

I am gifting it to her on Friday at her baby shower and I'm pretty sure there's no way she will see it here on my blog so I'm not worried.

The yarn is some Bernat Softee chunky that I had in the stash and its just a simple design that I made up. There's a Double crocheted center in white, then I went round and round the edge with double crochet in the blue variegated. I did one round of white to add interest.

I seriously wondered about using this acrylic yarn for a baby gift, however, the blanket isn't very big, it's more like something to throw over a car seat as the weather gets cool or to be drug around the house as he learns to walk so it wouldn't be something used for sleeping. I am also proud that I stash-busted to make this lovely little blanket. It took me less than 2 full crochet nights, so less than 6 hours to make this lovely gift and less than 4 balls of yarn.
I think the bulkiness of the yarn and the fact that it's acrylic and therefore less likely to be ruined by the stepsister who I am not sure has a healthy understanding of caring for handmade items will make this a wonderful gift for the new little nephew that should be here in a few short weeks.

Friday, June 18, 2010

There's just something about Fridays

I keep trying to post more often, I make this plan and then get busy and don't seem to have the time but then Friday comes around and I feel bad and here I am posting the only time this week, again.
It's definitely for a good cause though. I mentioned last week that I hadn't been knitting nearly as much as I've been spinning. That is so true.
Here we have the results of my recent spinning.

On the left you will find the pound of roving that was dyed at Shepherd's Harvest by me, in the dyeing class.

They sure turned out nice didn't they? Let's have a close-up shall we?


All 5 skeins were navajo-plied to keep the colors together and I think they turned out really nicely, although they are different weights, too much time between spinning means inconsistency.

On the right, you will find a little skein, this wee little thing may not look like much but it's a lovely Merino/Alpaca blend that a friend gave me a little sample of and I spindle spun it. I actually came out with over a hundred yards of a lovely two-ply. Again, let's take a closer look.

Its somewhere between a light fingering weight and a heavy lace-weight. I love it. I can't wait to find something beautiful to knit with it. As a matter of fact, I'm thinking about this, although the yardage may be somewhat light for that. We'll see.

I'm off to see my parents again for a few days so my spindle's packed in my bag because, well, I am training for the Tour de Fleece and I am trying to spin every day.

Although, I did dye up some very nice yarn.

It's a lovely skein dyed with black food coloring that broke in all the right ways and it is currently on some needles and I am dying to knit more with it.

Secrets though, I'll have to wait to tell you what I'm knitting and keep you in suspense.

Friday, June 11, 2010

Wrapped up in Love

I've been so crazy busy lately, I've barely even thought about posting anything but that doesn't mean that knitting (and spinning for that matter) have not occurred.
Actually, I've been doing quite a bit of Knitting and Crocheting.

Case in point: The Red yarn thing.

Some people correctly guessed what it was. It is a Clapotis.

I used the yarn dyed by my friend for her Etsy shop. It is dangerous to be friends with her because she has this yarn and fiber lying around her house and I see it and I want to take it all home. Sometimes I can resist, sometimes not.

I knit this gorgeous thing with less than two skeins of sock weight yarn and it is PLENTY long. I can wrap it around my neck twice and the ends are very long. It was knit on size 5 needles so its not quite as wide as the pattern calls for but I think it works just fine for a wrap too. I love it. I rarely take it off now that its done and I'm taking a short break from this gorgeous red yarn to knit something else.

Um, I tried dyeing some yarn using black food coloring (with the hope that I could get something to maybe sell) and loved it so much, I may have kept it and cast it on. We'll have to talk about that another day.

Wednesday, June 02, 2010

Two Rows

Things have been absolutely crazy around here lately, to the tune of the fact that I haven't really even thought about posting. I want to, I need the outlet if nothing else but I've been too busy to do it.

So, instead, I'll bring to you all up-to-date on my most recent adventure. Its not knitting related except that I was on the way to knit night.

Our group meets every month on the same date, regardless of what day of the week it is so that it alternates every month. Then, those who can't make it on a certain day of the week for whatever reason, have the opportunity to make it to other days. It seems to work well. Anyway, our date is the 19th so a couple of weeks ago, I was on my way to Knit night. I have to travel about 30 miles to Knit night and I travel down a major highway to get there. I was on my way when I noticed, near a bridge over some water that an animal had been hit on the side of the road. I realized it must be a duck when I noticed a little group of ducklings waddling around alone on the side of the road, obviously upset and trying to figure out what to do.

What could I do? I turned around, went back and picked up the 5 little birds. What did I have in my car to put them in? This sounds awful.

Only a large stock pot that I had purchased to use as a dye pot. So, there they were, little birds in a big pot. Several of them tried to jump out but luckily the sides were JUST high enough that they couldn't. You can sort of see one of them in there.

So now I had stopped and picked up these birds but what on earth was I supposed to do with them? I obviously had no way to rehabilitate them and they were not meant to be pets. I drove into town to meet up with my other knitters and we talked about it. We looked up numbers and I called all over. We tried to give them water, they tried to swim in it and ended up spilling it all over.

I tried to call the DNR but they were closed as it was after 5:00. (I find this somewhat ridiculous. There are animals to be helped more than just 8-5!)
Finally, finally, I got the number of a lady in our area who takes in animals and rehabilitates them. I drove them out to her house and dropped them off.

She obviously knew all about what to do and even knew that these were Mergansers not ordinary Mallard Ducks.

My car ride home seemed oddly quiet but somehow I felt like I had earned my keep on this earth for a day. For about an hour and a half there, I had 5 birds. They sure were sweet too but I'm so glad they have a chance to be the wild birds they were born to be.

That is the reason I was only able to knit 2 rows on my scarf at Knit Night. Well worth it I'd say.