If You're Looking For A Snack...

might I recommend these?



I have the Cinnamon Brown Sugar variety and they are most tasty. If you like almonds, of course. If not, find another snack.

Let's Just Say They're Kin

I have two FO's to share today. Last weekend I finished this Pinwheel Blanket:
Yarn: Berroco Comfort
Needles: US sz 7

I used Fibonacci sequence for the striping. The Pinwheel Blanket is a great baby gift and is easy knitting, but does get tedious toward the end. I'm very pleased with how this one turned out, though. The final size ended up being about 36".

Last night, I finished some plain stockinette socks, which I am calling Amos. It only seemed right since they are so similar in color to my ill-fated Cedric socks. Normally socks end up being twins, right? We hope for identical, but with handpainted yarns they often come out fraternal. These...well...I think there were issues in the gene pool.
Yarn: Gypsy Girl Creations/Stone Barn Fibers in Brindle
Needles: US sz 1

I do have another sock in progress, as well as a shrug, but no pics of them just yet. In the meantime, I knit on.

Trying to Keep Up

I don't know why I'm finding it so hard to keep up with the blogging. I wish I had interesting things to say every day, but I don't. It doesn't mean I haven't been busy, though.

I finished Anne's "That Little Scarf" recently, which is a very fun knit and makes a great little neckwarmer.
Yarn is fingering weight from The Knittery.

I'm currently working on a new Pinwheel Blanket for an upcoming class at The Neighborhood Knit Shop.
Also, Ethan thinks these are the best things EVER.
Finally, I was happily wearing my Fawkes socks last night and thought a few times, "hm...I can feel something cold on the sole of my foot - these must be getting thin." I wore them to bed and when I woke up this morning I was crushed to see this.
They were one of the first pairs of socks I knit. (can't remember if I started these or Jaywalkers first) There's no point in trying to fix them as the other heel is about 24 hrs away from doing the same thing and the ball of the foot area is close behind.

Truer Words Were Never Spoken

Overheard tonight from the back seat of the car...

"I am six, so sometimes I know EVERYTHING."-Natalie

Wing o' the Moth

Finally.

Pattern: Wing o' the Moth Shawl by Anne Hanson
Yarn: Sunshine Yarns alpaca laceweight, "It's Cold Outside"
Needles: US sz 5 KnitPicks Options

A Preview

More to come tomorrow...

Hanami

Sold Old Stuff

Thought I'd share a few old projects to distract you from the fact that I don't have pictures of any of my current WIP's. Sneaky, eh?

The first is a short garter stitch scarf, knit with the leftover Alpaca Baby Grande of another scarf I knit recently. This yarn is HEAVENLY and I thought it would make a nice little neckwarmer, even if it isn't very long or wide.
Then we have another pair of Sonoma socks (for my sister), knit in black KnitPicks Gloss. I'd never used Gloss before and will definitely consider it for future socks!
Sorry about the weird, washed-out picture...it's very difficult to photograph black handknits if you want to show details.

So there you go. I am thisclose to finishing the Hanami stole and I can't wait!! I'm holding out on pics until I'm finished with the knitting.

Preparing For a Takeover...erm, Comeback

We're plotting our return...click here to see what CraftBorg is up to.

Zoinks!

Holy shmoly! I can't believe it's been over 2 months since I last blogged! Christmas was very nice - we went to Missouri first, then headed to Illinois on the 27th, where I started running a fever as soon as we arrived. The fever morphed into strep throat, which morphed into mild sinus/ear infections and then I wound up with a large abscessed ulcer on my throat - all of which essentially left me couch-ridden (slept there, too) for nearly 2 straight weeks. Once we returned to Nashville, I was still too weak to be up doing anything, so I spent almost another week recovering in my recliner. Thankfully, I am now feeling nearly 100% human again. Oh, and let's not forget that in the midst of all of this, Natalie managed to get a terrible case of pinkeye, which she then gave to me. We were a hot mess, I can tell you that.

Otherwise, I don't have much to tell you really. I've only just started knitting again in the past few days - just didn't have the energy or concentration while I was sick. My goal right now is to finish some WIP's that haven't been seen in a while - pics to come later this week.

In the meantime, I'll leave you with the kids' Christmas picture. I meant to get "real" ones done, but ran out of time, so I marched them outside in their good clothes and did it myself.

Remember me?

OK, so I've been gone a while. It wasn't really on purpose - I was out of town and have been very busy knitting! Here's what I've been doing since my last entry.

Another pair of worsted socks for my aunt, done in Schaefer Lola:

A pair of RPM's for my aunt in Cherry Tree Hill, colorway "Martha's Vineyard":

The last pair of socks for my aunt, in Sea Wool (which I LOVE and will make it very painful for me to mail these off)...this is the Sedona Sock pattern:

Then I also finished the Waving Lace socks for Greg's aunt, done in Mountain Colors Bearfoot:

I managed to finish my Chevron Scarf, done in Socks That Rock (Tiger's Eye and Space Dust)...I couldn't get a picture of me actually wearing it, so you'll have to just imagine that:

Finally, I decided to knit myself a hat with the Tasmanian alpaca I received from Amanda...so here is Le Slouch:

I will leave you with a few pics of little people...first, trick or treating at the zoo (Ethan was a bat, Natalie was a cat):

Natalie lost her 3rd tooth this weekend:

And Ethan is still a silly goose:

P.S. I apologize for the lack of links today...if you have any questions about patterns or where to find them, just leave me a comment.

Slow and Steady

I'm still plugging away on spinning my first sock yarn. Last night I finished knitting with the yarn that was finished and I'll have a new batch of singles ready to soak soon.

Here is what the finished yarn looks like:
And here is where I'm at on the sock...heel is finished and I've knit a few rounds past the heel:
I'm getting 9 stitches per inch and knitting with US sz 1.5 needles, tho the yarn is so fine in places that I wish it was a 1 even a 0.

Busy Bee

So I took that yarn I made and turned it into a little bag for Natalie. It was 48 sts on US sz 7 needles and I just did a crochet chain for the drawstring. There was a definite difference in the weight of the first skein and the weight of the second...you can see that the stitches in the bottom half of the bag are much bigger than those in the top!
Then this week my aunt received her worsted weight socks and immediately requested more. I remembered that I had this sock languishing in the WIP basket from last winter (Lorna's Laces worsted, but the band is long gone so I don't know the colorway), so I pulled it out and finished it yesterday. I also started the second one and am halfway through the foot.
And finally, I bought this:
Which I spun into this:
And is now being knit into this:
I really didn't plan to start knitting with it right away - and I realize I'm probably tempting fate, but I had a little batch of singles that I wanted to ply and then the temptation was too great and I caved. I'm knitting it on US sz 1.5 needles, for what it's worth.

First Skein aka I Wanna Be Like Erin

My first proper handspun yarn.

Trying Again

So I bought a drop spindle last year and immediately tried it out. Then I got frustrated and put it away. I've always wanted to try again, but wished I had someone local I could go to for help, or even more convenient, find a helpful video online. Then Erin started playing with her new drop spindle and I knew I had to get mine out and see if I could do better than I had done before. Darn that Erin.

I played with the spindle off and on all day yesterday and was finally able to come up with this. Obviously, it's not terribly even, but the two strands on the penny show the variation I'm getting. Those are pretty much the thickest and the thinnest that I was able to spin.


Must keep practicing.

SPS

Today's self-portrait proves that I have all of my teeth. Natalie, however, does not. She lost her second tooth this week. However, you can see that her first new tooth is nearly all the way in.

What a Week

So in the past week, my family has gone from planning to move out of state to not moving at all (for the time being, anyway)...from having an offer on our house to having to take the house off the market...from certainty to uncertainty. My husband's business partners have chosen to buy him out, so he will soon be looking for a new opportunity. We are not opposed to moving wherever we need to go, if the offer is right. Right now, it's the not knowing what will come next that is a little disconcerting. I do believe that in the long run, this change of events will be for the best...I'd just like to know what's coming next, you know?

The knitting helps a bit. I have several projects on the needles right now, but my new Chevron Scarf is getting the most attention. (not one, but TWO colorways of STR! squee!) I also have a sweater body and most of a sleeve for Natalie, my Gryffindor scarf and a few socks that are in the active WIP bag.

Here's hoping for a good buy-out and a new job opportunity!

SPS

I'd nearly forgotten about Self-Portrait Sunday. Perhaps just as well since today's SPS contains both bed-head and yesterday's makeup. Happy Rose?