A Quick Update

Hey all, as much as I’d love to show you my progress on my shawl or my spinning or my dye-stained hands….. I can’t.   We are in the process of packing and everything else that goes with that.   Wrote the check today for the deposit and first month’s rent so away we go! If I don’t get to update you again before the deed is done, I’ll see you sometime around the 21st of the month.

P.S.  I have a whole room for my dye studio!!! Leave me a comment and let me know what color I should paint it. The landlord says we are free to paint and spruce up the almost 100 year old house as we please.  We are gonna be busy!

A Superior Rating after 11 Years

Last saturday my best friend and I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary.  The kids were at a friends house for an overnighter, so we planned on going out to the lake for a picnic and trail ride with the bikes but sadly my sugars were too low and I felt lousy.  Sooo… we ended up eating our “picnic” at home along with a few cocktails and played Canasta while watching House on dvd.  But we had a great time just being together and didn’t feel let down at all.   Now I know I am far from being a perfect wife but after 11 years I do think hubby would agree with this little quiz I took!

74 As a 1930s wife, I am Superior Take the test!

I’m working on getting some pics of recent spinning and my progress on the Pi shawl for next post, so stay tuned.  

The Tour de Fleece is coming!!

It’s that time again folks! July 5th is race on, what will you be spinning? Last year was my first time participating in the self-motivated spin-along and I was still very much a newbie spinner. This year I’m much closer to acheiving the results I’m after so my goals are higher. I’ve spun laceweight now, but I need to loosen up on my plying, it’s still overplied and thus a little “hard” instead of drapey. So….

1) I will attempt high yardage laceweight that is balanced and drapey.

2) I will attempt your classic 3-ply fingering weight sock yarn.

3) I will attempt to improve my production time, spinning more in less time.

And then there’s my own little twist to the program. Hubby brought home my anniversary gift a little early. My first bike in years and years and years! I’m like a 6 year kid on Christmas morning!! After adjusting the handlebar height I was off to give it a spin around the block. Oh My. I forgot how free I feel while riding, it’s almost like flying. Now you have to understand here, not only do I deeply enjoy riding, it is extremely beneficial to me because I have problems losing weight by just altering my diet. Exercise that I enjoy is 80% of any weight loss for me.

So I will be working on my speed and even plying on one wheel and my distance on the other two. Hopefully by the end of the race I’ll be wearing the yellow jersey in more ways than one.

Dyers are a friendly bunch!

I just realized the other night that I’ve been on Ravelry for over a year. That just blows me away! I have met and become friends with soooooo many wonderful people, male, female, knitter, crocheter, spinner, dyer, yarn collector, and those who manage to do it all with aplomb.

Recently though I have sought advice from one Raveler in particular, Stacey. Stacey is an indie dyer who is extremely humble concerning the popularity of one of her yarns. She is a wonderful, giving person who is showing herself to be full of great advice and generous with her time and talents all to my benefit. I met up with Stacey this last week for the first time, oh, yeah I forgot to mention she is a local gal! Anyways we brought our kidlets and met up in person. There were funny mommy stories swapped, frozen lemonade consumed, and lots of fiber fondling goin’ on. I had my oldest snap a pic before Stacey and her daughter had to run. Sorry it’s so fuzzy.

Thanks Stacey for the superwash and everything!

To KAL or Not to KAL?

One of the great things about Ravelry is finding out about all of the KALs, or Knit-alongs for different projects. The mystery shawl KALs seem to attract alot of knitters and I was curious as to why they are so popular so I joined one. I was able to trade with another Raveler for 2 skeins of beautiful hand-dyed laceweight merino yarn.

Then I got involved with the discussions within the group created for the KAL and was easily convinced that like several others I would add beads to my shawl. So after waiting till there was extra cash for beads, finding just the right ones and ordering them, they arrived several days before the KAL was due to start.

(sorry the pic is grainy, these were hard to photograph!)

At this point I had the yarn, balled it, had the beads, had the needles, I was ready and excited to cast on. Then the designer decided to release the first portion of the pattern or clue as it is referred to as, a day early! YEAH!! Obviously I cast on right away, and actually finished the first clue in very little time. But……..

I didn’t like it. Now for this shawl we had the benefit of having several different lace charts to choose from so I could have ripped it out and tried the other 3 charts before making a decision. But the truth was staring me in the face. I loved my yarn, I loved my beads, they went perfectly together. The yarn looked fine in the pattern but not the beads. I could knit the shawl without the beads but then to me the yarn would be missing something. I immediately knew this yarn and these beads had a specific destiny unrelated to this KAL.

So to me the next issue was, would I find another yarn and continue with the KAL? I debated the issue for about 30 minutes but decided to wait. My heart was already wrapped up in knitting this yarn with these beads. I still want to knit the mystery shawl from the KAL but right now I’m starting this one. I can’t help it, I’m in love.

Yarn: 1,760 yds of hand-dyed Merino laceweight wool

Pattern: Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Pi Shawl

Needles: Crystal Palace 24 in. Bamboo Circulars

Beads: almost 2000 japanese glass seed beads from Artbeads.com

Mary Jane Booties

Just wanted to share one of my rare commissioned projects, a tiny pair of mary jane booties. Aren’t they darling? A dear friend is anticipating the birth of her first granddaughter and she lovingly sewed up an adorable bonnet, blankie and bib. All she lacked was a pair of booties to match. A few days later, a complete layette.

Pattern:  Free Baby Mary Jane Booties

Yarn:  Bernat Cottontots

Needles:  size 3 double points used as straights

Notions:  yarn needle, sewing needle, white thread, white ribbon, 2 white/cream pearl buttons, 2 tiny pink accent buttons.

Thanks guys for all the feedback on the new logo!  I’ll be sharing more and more about my new biz over the next couple of weeks.  So stay tuned! 

A Peek at Things to Come…..

My shiny new logo, drawn & inked by a talented artist I found on Ravelry. Here’s a link to some of her other work.

Ya likey?

A Fresh New Look

A little more behind the scenes editing and the blog will be fully refurbished.  How’s it look?  I’d love to hear your opinions. 

I have a finished project to show you!  Some of you may have already seen it on my Ravelry project page but for those of you yet to go sign up, here’s the scoop.

Swallotail Shawl (free pdf download) designed by Evelyn A. Clark

Alpaca Cloud laceweight baby alpaca yarn in the Tidepool colorway.  (can be purchased at KnitPicks)

Size 4 Crystal Palace Bamboo 24 inch circular needles

One month of the most enjoyable knitting ever

I wore it to my brother’s wedding during the reception and got soooo many compliments on it!  I loved this project and can definitely see a few more Swallowtails in my future.    Now I have 4 more lace projects cast on and am enjoying every single stitch.  More on those when there is something to see.

Oh, and that major announcement?  It’s only about a week away.  I can hardly sleep!

Mr. & Mrs.

Hello blogland! I’m coming out from the other side of planning my brother’s wedding last month finally feeling human again. I have a wonderful new sister-in-law and gained a nephew and 3 nieces! Wanna see some pictures? Thought so.  Next up: My first lace F0, my first handspun laceweight and a major announcement!

Bachelorette Party

The bridal shower

The Rehearsal Dinner

Getting pretty

The Big Day!

My siblings and I are very close.  The are my best friends and I’m soooo lucky to have them!

Remarkably accurate and creepy…

What Rebecca Means

You are wild, crazy, and a huge rebel. You’re always up to something. You have a ton of energy, and most people can’t handle you. You’re very intense. You definitely are a handful, and you’re likely to get in trouble. But your kind of trouble is a lot of fun.You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone. You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together. At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together. You are full of energy. You are spirited and boisterous. You are bold and daring. You are willing to do some pretty outrageous things. Your high energy sometimes gets you in trouble. You can have a pretty bad temper at times. You are very open. You communicate well, and you connect with other people easily. You are a naturally creative person. Ideas just flow from your mind. A true chameleon, you are many things at different points in your life. You are very adaptable. You are usually the best at everything … you strive for perfection. You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive. You have the classic “Type A” personality.

What’s Your Name’s Hidden Meaning?