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Mission Accomplished! I'm so proud!

Mission Accomplished!

I'm so proud! I actually started a project and worked on it until I completed it without a)starting another project b)working on another project or c)buying more yarn for another project! The WIP list remains stable. I really want to get back to working with some wool, but Maude is calling my name. Hopefully another FO in the near future?!?

Oh yeah -- the socks. They are for Maddie and I used leftover Cascade Fixation to make them. Believe it or not, I still have more left over! Pretty good value, even if it is cotton.

Thanks! Just wanted to say

Thanks!

Just wanted to say Thanks to Anna at Anna Knits for her nifty blog stuff! You can see that I added the scrolling buttons at the left. How cool is that?

Antiques and Spinning Well, I

Antiques and Spinning

Well, I got a little bit of the Lorna's spun up and here it is! What is that thing it's on, you ask? That's an old weaving loom bobbin/shuttle thingy that I got at the Sandwich Antique Fair last month for a couple of bucks. Yesterday we went to the antique fair again and I got this:

A cute little Frankoma pitcher in Prairie Green. I bargained the seller down to $20, so I was happy! Isn't it cute?

But I digress. Here is a close up of the yarn which shows the color a little better. Some of you spinners can probably tell that I am using a Navajo plying technique to make a 3 ply. Here is a little video demo that will explain it better than I can. Why am I using this method? Because I wanted a smooth transition from color to color. If I made a 2-ply, the color would probably be kind of muddy, with the carmel color taking over. I may make a little 2 ply sample to see what it looks like.

The Lorna's roving is just wonderful to spin and feels very soft. I think it will be pretty wearable for handspun wool. I highly recommend it!

2 for 1 I've decided

2 for 1

I've decided that in order to decrease my pile of WIP's, I need to finish 2 projects of every 1 that I start. So, here is the second completed item of the week -- Cascade Fixation short socks. I just took a regular sock pattern and instead of making a regular length cuff, I did K2P2 ribbing for about an inch. I think I have enough yarn left over to make a pair for my 2 1/2 yr old.

So, what should I start next? I'm thinking that I might need to swatch my Dale Svale top. Or should I start the socks for Maddie? Or maybe the Broadripple socks. So many choices!

And this came in the mail!! This is the Lorna's Laces roving in Gold Hills that I got from ThreadBear! Isn't it pretty? I haven't had a chance to start spinning it yet, but I'm hoping that will happen later today.

Cat Troubles Happy news first.

Cat Troubles

Happy news first. I finished the Mountain Colors Treasure Pouch and it was a lot of fun to make. I highly recommend it as one of those instant gratification projects.

And now for the sad new. It all started innocently enough. Pete and I have been wanting a LitterMaid Litter Box for quite a while. So we splurged and bought one last week. It arrived, I set it up and all three cats used it happily enough. Apparently the next morning the kitten (Fancy -- she's the one in the above picture) saw the thing activate and FREAKED OUT! She was so disturbed that she ran into the bedroom and peed on our bed. I was totally distraught (still am). So, I washed all the bedding twice with bleach and used the enzyme stuff on the bed. Soaking up any extra with a box full of baking soda (I researched all this on the web). When Pete got home it was dry and didn't smell, so we flipped the mattress over and made up the bed. The kitten ran in the room and peed on the bed again within minutes. At this point I was in tears. At midnight we were dragging the mattress out into the garage. Luckily we had an extra queen mattress, but I'm sick about throwing out all that bedding and that mattress. And I loved sleeping with our kitties. No more of that now. And I still haven't seen the kitten use the new box -- or the old box that was in the laundry room the whole time. She was locked up in the bathroom all night with a litter box and she used it then.

Cat owners/lovers please give me advice. I have been on cat patrol since this happened and I need some peace. I can't watch the kitten all the time. How do I re-train her?

Autumn? I did a little

Autumn?

I did a little dyeing last week, with yarn this time instead of roving. I used some Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride in Frost White and lanaset dyes. This was made using the cold pour method. (I couldn't find a good link for this. Next time I'll document and create a "dyeing instructions" page.) I really like it! But what will it become?

Speaking of hand dyed yarn, take a look at Rob's Blog to see the yarn that Matt dyed. Very pretty! You can also check out the Koigu version of the Broadripple socks. I got my Fixation in the mail yesterday, but more on that later.

I also got to work on the Mountain Colors Treasure Pouch and all it needs is a handle. Hopefully I will finish that up today. Maybe pics tomorrow -- it is cute, fast and fun. This was one impulse purchase I was gald to make!

Trade? I've been in yarn

Trade?

I've been in yarn acquisition mode lately and I have run out of room! I would love for this yarn to go to a good home -- make me an offer! It is Wildfoote Luxury Sock Yarn from Brown Sheep. And you don't have to take all 12 -- if you only want 2 or 4 or whatever, that's fine. The colors in the picture are pretty good, I think. Email Me!

Happy Anniversary to Us! It's

Happy Anniversary to Us!

It's been four wonderful years! Here we are at the big event -- our wedding was incredible! People are still talking about it. We had the reception at an old theater and we had a swing band (more like an orchestra -- 17 people I think?) A good time was had by all! It's a very important memory for me not only because I married the greatest guy EVER, but also because my dad was there. He passed away less than 2 months later and I'm so thankful that he was there to walk me down the aisle.

And to top it all off, our honeymoon was in Alaska! This was the greatest vacation I have ever been on! We went to Denali Backcountry Lodge and the Kenai Fjords Wilderness Lodge which were both incredible. and we also stayed in Seward and Anchorage. I would go back there in a minute!

And as I'm sitting here writing this, the delivery man came with a dozen roses! Here they are:

Aren't they pretty? (I'm not fond of red roses, so Pete always finds pretty non-red roses to give to me. Isn't that sweet?)

Yarn Adventure! I'm back from

Yarn Adventure!

I'm back from Milwaukee and Theresa & I had a great time checking out some yarn stores. As you can see I did get some goodies! Let me tell you how important store models are. . . I bought all that Svale and the pattern from Dalegarn to make the sweater on the cover because I saw and touched the store model that was hanging by the yarn.

On the right is some Blue Sky Alpaca and a pattern for a plain guy hat. Pete approved when he saw it, so I think I did pretty good. This brings up the topic of yarn obsessions. I apparently have an obsession with alpaca. I did not know this until I read the label of each yarn I was drawn to and saw that they all seemed to contain a good percentage of alpaca! Yummy.

But of course that's not all -- here is another store model purchase. The little bag in the upper right corner of the picture was made up and hanging in the store. That did it! It was so cute that I had to walk out of there with the pattern and that lovely Mountain Colors yarn. The color of the yarn is "Lost Trail" and it is just gorgeous in person.

Oh yeah, and on the right is a boring skein of Brown Sheep in white. Soon to be un-boring (I feel like an IKEA commercial) though -- it will be dyed in the near future. I've been dyeing rovings lately, but I need to try the lanaset dyes on some yarn.

On an unrelated note -- the new Knitty is out and Rob has a great sock pattern in this issue. I already ordered my Cascade Fixation from ThreadBear. Have you?

The reason for a raglan.

The reason for a raglan. . .

Here's the reason that I wanted to design a raglan cardie. It's all because I wanted a cable up the sleeve that went all the way to the neck edge. Sheesh! What a lot of work for a little detail. Did I mention that this is the first sweater I have ever knit. And here I am designing it myself. I hope it actually fits when I'm all done!

And now Theresa and I are off to the north for the weekend. How exciting! We are going to visit Ruhama's and any other knitting stores we can find on the way there or back. I'm sure I will have some lovely pictures of huge piles of yarn when I return!

Pretty Bags My Rowan Newsletter

Pretty Bags

My Rowan Newsletter came today and there was an article on cushion kits from Debbie Abrahams. So, I checked out her website and she also has some really cute bag kits. I already have her book, 100 Afghan Squares to Knit, so I think I might try to convert some of the squares into bags and pillows!

More Cardie & eBay Well,

More Cardie & eBay

Well, I did get quite a bit done on the cardie this weekend. I finished one half of the front and I have a good portion of one arm completed. It's more fun to knit when you are designing it yourself!

What is it about eBay? I mean, this is over $100 worth of yarn and I got it for $25 -- pretty good deal, right? But what am I going to do with it?!? I'm thinking washcloths. I'll make some handmade soaps and pair each one with a washcloth -- cute gift, no? I just hope this stuff washes well. It says dry clean only -- ugh. (Oh -- it's Berroco Flax btw.)