It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year . . .

Ahhhhhh . . . School . . . . It begins . . . . The Rowing Cat begins High School next week. I can't really believe it! Volleyball started this week, scrimmages and practices! My little girl is a setter for the JV Team!

I participated in Ravelympics! I was a member of Team Tardis and participated in the Handspun Heptathalon! I used some luscious fiber from Spunky Eclectic - a beautiful blend of merino and mohair. I started spinning during the Opening Ceremonies and was able to finish my scarf before the Closing Ceremonies! The Rowing Cat has already claimed this as her own . . . The pattern is Mabel's Scarf.






Here is a picture of my "haul" from the Hush Hush Hand Spun Hootenanny! My swap partner Ingrid put together a great package! Two skeins of handspun, beautiful fiber hand dyed by Ingrid and silk hankies, also hand dyed by Ingrid! She also included a bar of her own handmade soap with a wonderful Mango scent.


Here is the bobbin with the silk. This has been interesting to spin. I've only tried silk hankies once before using a spindle. So I was really interested to try this on the wheel. It's pretty neat! The silk does get stuck on every little dry spot on your hands or on the chair or on your glasses . . . but it's a fun process! I'm thinking of plying the silk with some laceweight black alpaca from the stash. Hmmmm . . . I'll have to see what it looks like. I'm also thinking of experimenting with the handspun Ingrid sent me. I just might try cabling some of each skein together. It's a technique I've been reading about in Spin Off magazine.


Here's a picture of my Seafoam Scarf. I'm very happy with this one! The yarn is spun from Spunky Eclectic Fiber Club roving. I think this pattern really pops with the color transitions. It's a fun pattern to knit with a series of yarnovers that are dropped.


And what would a blog post from me be without a pair of socks? This colorway is called TOTM - can you guess what that means???? Time of the Month! Perfect - don't you think??? They've gone into the Rowing Cat's sock drawer!

100th Post: Hibiscus for Hope

I simply cannot believe that this is my 100th post! And too celebrate that fact, I'm delighted to introduce you to Hibiscus for Hope!

Ramona has once again put together a beautiful pattern that can be yours for sponsoring her in the 2008 Weekend to End Breast Cancer. I was a test knitter for this pattern and I can attest that it is beautiful! Mine are the lime green socks! Here is Ramona's post on the new sock - read it and get on over and sponsor her! Happy Knitting!

This is an elegant sock inspired by ThatLoganChick’s Agatha shawl
designed for the fight to end breast cancer
Starting from a toe-up construction (magic loop or 2 circular needles recommended), the sinuous lace motif (a variant of a lace design found in Leili Riemann’s Pitsilised Koekirjad) begins from a point somewhat above the toe-box, expands across the instep and ultimately wraps gracefully around the ankles after the heel to meet itself in the back and continue up around the leg. The comfortable arch-hugging heel combines the under-heel gusset increases from Cat Bordhi’s Riverbed architecture with Wendy Johnson’s short-rowed heels to accommodate a high or wide instep.

A few tantalizing images from my intrepid testknitters:















To get the pattern, all you have to do is sponsor me for the upcoming 2008 Weekend to End Breast Cancer, and put HIBISCUS in the message.

Crazy4Dyeing Etsy Shop Announcement: 15% of sales of Crazy4Dyeing yarn destined for Hibiscus for Hope socks will be donated to Toronto Weekend to End Breast Cancer to sponsor the designer of the patternwalking 60-km over two days. Please make a comment when you check out that you’ll be making these socks.

Knitters for Knockers:
knitting together to make cancer history!

Summer Fun

I'm off for vacation today but I thought I'd post a few pictures this morning. This is a beautiful cowl called Veronique by Carrie Strine. I knit it up in some fantastic yarn from Mama Llama that I won in a contest. The yarn is so soft and squishy and the pattern is an easy lace knit. I almost want it to be cold enough out to wear it. Almost.

Are you my downstream Hush Hush Handspun Hootenany pal? If so, this luscious fiber will be coming your way! It's a beautiful superwash merino from The Dyeing Arts called Goblin Elbow Blue. It is a joy to spin!

Shhhhh! This is a small teaser for a sock pattern that I've been test knitting! It's done in some fabulous Posh Yarn in a crazy lime green colorway! More on the pattern once it's posted!

And I've finally succumbed to the lure of the washcloth. This is done in basic cotton in some not so basic colors! I love it! I plan on knitting at least 7 so I can have one available for every day of the week!


That's all for now! I'm off to mail my Magic Yarn Ball Swap package and then to pack for the Lake! Have a great week! Now what knitting project should I pack . . . . . . . . . .

Hush Hush Handspun Hootenanny Questionnaire

1. How long have you been spinning? What skill level do you consider yourself?

I've been spinning for about a year and a half and would consider myself intermediate.

2. What kinds of yarn do you create (singles/2-ply/3-ply/art yarn)?

I usually create 2-ply or singles yarn.

3. What do you spin with (spindle/wheel/both)?

Just my wheel - A Louet 75

4. What are your favorite fibers to spin with? Anything you don't like?

I love to spin Merino and Romney. I'm not so hot on silk and tencel, but I probably just need more practice. I'm also very allergic to Angora bunnies, so that's off my list.

5. Who are your favorite crack dealers fiber sources (etsy or otherwise)?

Spunky Eclectic, Hello Yarn

6. What kind of fiber do you want to try?

I should really try some silk blends.

7. Is there any techniques you would like to learn?

Navaho plying

8. Do you dye fiber? If not, would you like to learn?

I'm not really interested in dying right now. That may change!

9. Do you have fiber prep tools (and like to use them) or would you prefer ready to spin fiber?

I usually prefer ready to spin although I do have a pair of small combs that I have used with mohair locks.

10. What do you do with your handspun? What projects have you completed?

Socks, socks and more socks, scarves, hats, felted bags

11. Are you in need of any spinning gadgets (WPI Gauge, threading hook, etc)?

Not really.

12. What colors "fall into your shopping basket"? Any colors you just can't stand?

I love bright colors! Anything will do!

13. What is on your wheel/spindle right now?

Mohair locks

14. What other crafts/hobbies do you have?

Knitting

15. Other than crafts, what are you passionate about?

I love to read and I love to bake when I have the time.

16. Do you have an online wishlist?

No

17. Is there anything that you collect?

Not besides yarn and fiber!

18. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What magazine subscriptions do you have?

I'd love to get Cat Bordhi's new pathways sock book. I have subscriptions to Interweave Knits, Vogue Knitting and Spin.

19. When is your birthday?

October 30

20. What book or movie character do you most resemble in personality?

Hmmmm. I'll have to think about this. Check back for any update!

21. What is the climate like where you live around this time (need to know for careful shipments of anything meltable)?

It's summer.

22. Tell us one weird fact about yourself!

I broke my left ring finger this year and now it veers off to the left of center.

Favorites
favorite painting/picture(link): I'll have to think about this one too.

Candy: Anything chocolate - dark is good!

Food: Italian and Thai

Drink: Jack Daniels Manhattan

Movie(s): Pirates of the Caribbean, Local Hero, Waking Ned Devine

TV Show(s): Lost, Rome, The Tudors, Dr. Who

Book(s): The Lymond series by Dorothy Dunnet

Guilty Pleasure(s): chocolate chip cookies

What Have I Been Up To?

The weather has been fine - warm and summer like - even though we've been through a few storms . . . So I've been knitting!

Here's a little hat designed by Jen. It's so cute and easy! It's destined for a former co-worker who has moved away who has a baby due at the end of the summer! Hope she likes it!



Here's the May offering from the Spunky Eclectic Fiber Club. I love love love the colors!

And here's the completed Smoke Ring - I'm very pleased with the way this turned out!

And here's the beginning of the Print O' The Wave Shawl. I'm enjoying the pattern!



I'll be back this weekend with my Questionnaire for the Hush Hush Handspun Hootenany Swap!

Another Winner!

It was a beautiful morning on Lake George for the Milford Lester Memorial Race. The rowers started at Million Dollar Beach and rowed 6 miles around one of the islands barely visible in the photo. The race took about an hour, leaving me with knitting time!


As you can see, Mark won another medal! He came in second in his class. He was beat by his coach, so that's not too shabby! We all spent some time in a rustic pub having drinks, lunch and awards after the race. A good time was had by all! No more races until the fall - just practice, practice, practice.


Now onto some knitting. This is a smoke ring that I've been knitting out of the handspun fiber I bought at Rhinebeck. It's actually a burgundy color, not the purple that it looks in the photo. This poor yarn has been through the ringer. I first started out making the Sarcelle shawl, which is a lovely pattern. However, I soon realized that I did not have enough yarn. So off to the frog pond it went. I pulled out my saved patterns folder and decided to knit the smoke ring. I spent a whole afternoon on this, completing 2 repeats of the pattern before realizing that something was wrong. The lace just didn't look right. So I looked at the knitting, back to the chart, back to the knitting, back to the chart. And then it clicked. The pattern had a mistake in it. So back to the frog pond it went. One more time I started the smoke ring and finally hit the nail on the head! Although this has been a crazy project, I do feel confident enough as a knitter to be able to look at the knitting and the pattern and figure out the problem!

Now here is my spinning. I've been working on this for awhile. This is Romney wool from a work friend. She owns a small flock of Romney sheep and finally brought me in a pound of her fiber! It has become a beautiful lace weight singles yarn. I'm planning to make a modified version of the Print of the Wave Stole. It's going to be my summer lace project!

And The Winner Is . . . .

Congratulations go to : Brianna!


Your comment was the one chosen by Random.org: Number 11


I'll contact you by email for your address! Thanks to everyone for entering!

Crochet and Knit Giveaway!

I ran across a great new site called Crochet and Knit Giveaways. I keep spinning up more yarn than I can use, so I thought I'd join in the fun. Check out the site for more contests! Here's my entry!


Giveaway Item(s): One skein of handspun Corriedale and Colonial in the "Sorbet" colorway by Perchance to Knit.


How the winner will be chosen: Random.org Generator


Giveaway Begins: May 9


Giveaway Ends: May 14 at Midnight EDT


Winner will be notified on/by: May 15 by email - please add your email address to your comment!


Rules: No duplicate entries/comments. No spamming. Giveaway is open to everyone. Winner MUST respond within five days, otherwise they forfeit their winnings, and a new winner will be announced.


How to Enter:Leave a comment on this post letting me know what pattern you would like to knit with my handspun! Don't forget to leave me your email address!



Find other Crochet and Knit Giveaways to enter!

Back Home Again

Ahhhhh, Key West! We've gone and returned and enjoyed every minute! Here we are relaxing with a few drinks on the back porch of the house my in-laws rent for the month of April. It's located on a golf course, so the porch looks out on the 16th hole. You really need the screen to protect from stray golf balls . . .


Mark did a little cooking - Bourbon Shrimp under preparation here. We did a little ocean walking, some shopping and some dining out. Lots of reading time at the pool too. The water was so warm that Mark and I went back over at night for more swimming - what a treat!


Here's the view from the back porch. And the weather was perfect - 80's every day and rain only at night. It was a wonderful treat!

Here are my finished Felted Clogs. What a fun project. I'll definitely make more.

And spinning! This is roving from Perchance to Knit and it's very springy (both in feel and color) merino. I'm planning to ply it together with some cream roving I purchased at Rhinebeck. Probably for socks. She also sells her hand dyed yarn through the Loopy Ewe and I'm using her yarn for my Chevron Scarf. She has a great sense of color.


This is the sock I knit with my first Hill Country Yarn Sock Club yarn. The yarn came with a pattern but I decided to knit my own basic sock and do a little mosaic knitting for the leg. The yarn is simply luscious and I have really enjoyed knitting with it. The socks are very comfortable!


I finally completed my Monkey Socks! I love them! I am really pleased with the way they turned out. The pattern is beautiful.

I mentioned recently that I've got a little of the lace bug this Spring. I decided to go ahead and start the Sarcelle Shawl. I purchased the pattern sometime last year, but just haven't gotten around to casting on. I'm using the yarn I spun from my Rhinebeck haul. I think it will be pretty. This will definitely be fun to block!

And finally, I couldn't leave Key West without at least one yarn purchase! I scoped out a new yarn store before our trip. My mother-in-law and I went on a shopping excursion in town and we found it! Knit Wits is a lovely small shop with some fun yarns. The employees were very friendly and welcoming. I purchased this great skein of Colinette Jitterbug yarn. I love the color and I've never knit with any Colinette yarn before!

What The Heck Is That?

What the heck is this??? The Rowing Cat has a project due on Thursday. Her class is reading The Hobbit this semester. They have to create one of the characters using a potato (a potato!) They have to set up a scene in a shoe box. So off to AC Moore we went today. She was having quite a lot of fun putting this together this afternoon. However, my dining room table still looks like this . . . Notice the white roving being used for Thorin's beard . . . !

I finished the spring colors roving! I split it in half and plied one with a white Kidsilk Haze and one half with some Moda Dea. The Moda Dea is fluffy, fluffy, fluffy. I think I'll be crocheting a small baby blanket with it. The other half will become a baby hat for the same little new one! I really had fun spinning this up and really like how different the two skeins feel!

The Laptop Has Returned!

Hi guys! Our laptop has returned from the black hole known as the Geek Squad! The Rowing Cat had a small accident involving water and the keyboard . . . Luckily we only had to replace the keyboard on the laptop and all is well again. We do have an old laptop as a backup, but it's incredible how slow the 5 year old one feels! I still remember the days of punch cards, so I shouldn't complain. Our kids don't know how good they have it.

My finger has improved to the point of being able to knit again - Yay! I think knitting will probably be the best physical therapy and that it will feel normal again much quicker than the doctor has indicated.

My sister-in-law and I had the fun experience of taking a class with Annie Modesitt a few weeks ago! She is a riot and had us all laughing on a Sunday morning - no mean feat! We spent the morning learning her combination method of knitting. It was an interesting exercise for me. I'm not sure that I'll use it, but it's always good to have another arsenal to pull out of your bag. She also taught us how to cable without a cable needle. Now, this is something that I've always wanted to try, but didn't quite get it from looking at pictures. She made us come up in groups and watch her do it. It's a great trick! I wanted to remember how to do it so I cast on the next day for my next pair of "bus" socks and incorporated the technique. Not too bad!


Here are my beautiful Monkey socks! I'm still totally in love with this yarn and they are turning out great! I got the yarn in the Magic Ball Swap over on Ravelry - check it out - it was loads of fun! This pattern is so easy to knit (shhhhh . . . don't let the muggles know!) so I'm looking forward to trying more of Cookie A's patterns.


There has also been some spinning going on. My LYS is beginning to carry roving so I naturally
had to encourage this by buying some. It's Louet roving and is spinnng up wonderfully. It's pencil roving so it needs no pre-drafting. I have an entire pound of this, so I think I'm going to make an Elizabeth Zimmerman Pi Shawl from it. It will be for the Rowing Cat because she picked out the color. She has really turned into a shawl wearer. And she looks so natural with the way she drapes a shawl over her shoulders. I did tell you that she confiscated my last Clapotis the instant it was off the needles?



Here is the February fiber from Spunky Eclectic! It is a beautifully soft and springy fiber in beautiful spring colors. I'm thinking of plying it with some grey Kidsilk Haze from the stash to make some very decadent sock yarn.


And here's my Rhinebeck fiber all spun up ready to be turned into the Sarcelle Shawl. I've been feeling drawn to lace knitting recently. I pulled out my Faux Russian Stole and just threw it on a chair in the living room so that I'd pick it up if I was a little cold. What was I waiting for? I love the soft feel of the yarn and love looking at the intricate pattern. So it's on to my next lace shawl when the Monkey Socks are finished!


I went a little crazy and signed up for the Hill Country Sock Yarn club - I should be getting my first shipment this week. I can't wait!

Thanks to all who participated in my contest! The package has been sent to Nora in Australia!

And The Winner Is . . .

Thanks so much to all who entered the contest! I really appreciated every single comment supporting my recovery! Life is good!

I put all of the names in a bowl . . .



And asked the Rowing Cat to help out . . .


And the winner is . . . the lovely Nora!



(Notice the Clapotis in the background - My finger is on the mend and I am back to knitting. I finished this Clapotis that has been languishing on my needles since the summer. The Rowing Cat promptly commandeered it for her own. Oh well. Can't complain I guess!)

My sister-in-law and I are off to see Annie Modesitt tomorrow! Woo Hoo! Hopefully I'll get some pictures for later in the week!