Can you say "procrastination"?

So DD chose the yarn and pattern for her Easter basket. She chose the Y2Knit Spring Basket pattern that was the pattern of the month in March 2005 and Paton's Classic Merino Rosewood. DS1 agreed he like the idea but preferred a basket in red. Of course the amount of red wool I have isn't enough to make a basket, so we dyed some tonight using 3 flavors of Kool Aid: Cherry, Very Berry and Tropical Fruit Punch in a 2/2/1 combination. First, I soaked the hanks in vinegar water, but I think I should have added some Dawn and made the water hot instead of cold. At any rate, in the pot on the stove went the Kool Aid, some vinegar and water. DS1 and DS2 stirred the pot. I put in 2 hanks of VT wool that I bought off eBay in the spring (I bought about 6 pounds I think) It's Aran weight and a bit yellowed from the lanolin and years of age. The ballband tells all. I hope it suits him.



I thought I had set the pot on simmer, but apparently the heat was a tad bit higher. No harm done, fortunately, because I caught it before it had boiled any of the liquid off. We were in the basement watching the Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets movie on the Disney Channel, anyway, I sensed the faint aroma of hot wet sheep and flew upstairs to find the pot starting to boil... Needless to say I took it off the heat and checked the water and lo and behold, all the dye had been absorbed, rather evenly too. It's a bit orangier (is that a word?) than the red power ranger (which I'm sure is the color he has in his little 4 YO mind) but I think it will be fine. Now if I can only talk him into an accent color.... around the top and braided into the handle and maybe a little stripe in the middle??? I'll work on that.

Today I was taking some things to a local thrift shop and stopped at a LYS that was new to me. I had no intentions of buying fiber and I didn't (still on that diet), but wanted to have a look see.... I came home with 2 Fiber Trends patterns: the felted adult clogs and the felted birdhouses. Now I'd love to tell the name of the store, but my Dory brain has set in. However. KnitWiz Sew What Happens is calling to me, but I can't guarantee that that is indeed the correct name. Nope Google is my friend and the correct name is Knitwitz and Sew Much More. Anyway, there is lots of nice yarn to fondle... Lorna's Laces, Crystal Palace, Berroco, Mission Falls to name a few as well as some local handspun! It was merely by the grace of God that I left with no fiber in my hands!

Off to the resale shop and of course I had to go in to see if there were any knitting books or whatever. There weren't, nor was there decent yarn.... But I did buy a Musini for school (sans cartridge) for 95¢ which I thought was a steal. I have tons of cartridges here at home with ours, so... it'll work I think very well for the KDG classes...

Well it's now officially Palm Sunday and I'm off to spin some more.

Happy crafting

My mom rocks!

So I'm straightening up a bit while DH and the kids are at gymnastics, trying to wake up on a Saturday AM after 2 very late nights knitting peeps (oops) and there are 2 bags of stuff my mom sent home with DH on Thursday (along with her slippers to refelt) I open the first bag and there are 2 little heart Lenox thingies that my niece gave out at her bridal shower, a small Yankee candle in a glass jar in a yummo flavor and these 3 books:
Now mind you, they were published in 1973 so some of the styles are dated (maybe I can call them retro now?) but the techniques are the same, right? Each book contains ideas for knitting, crocheting, sewing, canvaswork, embroidery and general crafts (ie latch rug making, knitting with spools for kids, iron-on applique, macrame, reupholstery, potato printing.. you get the idea)
I don't remember my mom ever being extremely crafty. She was a great knitter (but didn't do it often cuz my Dad's sister was the 'knitter' in the family) She sewed occasionally, but never enough to fine tune the craft, she still does counted cross stitch and is incredible at that.. but wowee... I'm loving these books...

I need one more gift mom! Time... to do all this

Thanks, you're the best... and don't let pop throw anything out before I see it!!!!

The flock grows

I knit another peep last night. This one is for one of the boys, which means I have one more to do for this family. Of course, I had a request for one from a colleague today because I took the pink one in to show off. And I thought hmmm if I put a bell inside, it would be a really cute baby gift... so I may do that for our school nurse! This time it was knit with Crayon by KnitPicks in light blue.

My kids at school are like knitting machines... I think there must be at least a dozen that have needles and yarn from my room... and kids that weren't even in the calss are coing in to get some cuz their friends have taught them to knit.

OK... off to make breakfast. Happy Saturday and happy crafting!

finally a FO

here's a little peep I made for an easter basket. I'm still thinking about putting feet on it. Obviously it's for DD.. I have 2 more to make for my kids, but I'm debating about making some as gifts... they're a quick knit and I think cute too!

Pattern: Easter Peep
Yarn: KnitPicks Crayon, Lily Sugar and Cream
Colors: Pink, Hot Orange
Needle Size: 5
Stuffing: various wool lint from spinning or yarn cuttings

On another knitting note, mom's felted slippers are too big. So back to the washing machine they go. DH took them to her today, she tried them on and returned them. So I'll put them through again this weekend. Guess they'll be Easter slippers after all.

My aunt is home from the hospital after her surgery. The prognosis is good. They feel as though they got all the cancer. She has a couple of blood clots in her lungs right now, but is on blood thinners and they expect them to dissolve within a month or so. Continued prayers are appreciated.

On a very sad note, a dear friend's DIL (who is only 40) died in her sleep just Wednesday evening. I don't have any of the details, but I'm sure it was a shock to the family.

OK... off to bed I go (I was there before, but awoke at midnight to do some schoolwork then stayed up listening to old CAST ON podcasts and knit up the little chick!)

Too long... no knitting

I can't yet post a picture of my latest FO, because it's for a dishcloth exchange....
My potholder was completely frogged last night. I just started ripping and kept going. I got HOW to do it, but dropped a stitch at the end of a row, and started frogging to pick it up and figured, eh.. frog it all.... next time I'll choose different colors. I'm thinking about doing a rooster one for one of my dear friends instead.. I know she'd love it. Could make a cute easter present.

And in my mind, I'd like to make the kids felted baskets for easter and put some knitted peeps in them. Wonder if I have the time.

The get stitchy April KAL starts soon... it's for a bath item. My plan is to make a bath mat. I have the yarn already, so I don't have to buy anything. I've been so good all of lent about not buying yarn.

The thing I should be talking about is all the new knitters at my school. It's so cool to see them walking around with yarn and sticks. If we want to donate an entire blanket, we need 49 squares.... I have to convince all my knitters to keep going. If they each knit 2, we can easily make it. Even if not quite all of them do that, we can make it. But it's brought closet knitters out as well. Kids that didn't take the class that ask if they can work on squares... I'm so happy about that.

The marking period ends tomorrow... I have until Monday to put the grades in Power School... which of course, the school district has YET to train me to use. So what should take about one hour takes me 5 or 6. I hate this time of the school year. And my principal really has no clue what to tell me to help. I have to go seek some assistance tomorrow so I can get that mess out of the way!

I've been carding the rest of the Romney and started the Targhee (which is a dream to card when it doesn't have any VM in it) I'm beginning to hate VM.

Hopefully I'll get some crafting done over the next week or so. I am missing it tremendously!

at last!

I can finally post the picture for the Monthly Dishcloth KAL


Pattern: Basket cloth by Andi Worthy
Yarn: Lily's Sugar and Cream
Color: Jewels
Needle Size: 7

I could have gone down to a size 6. The switching between Knit and Purl opens it up a bit. But I like how it turned out. What I really like is how it matches one of my IKEA dish towels in color almost perfectly. I hadn't even thought about that... I'll have to make more cloths in this color.

Today was a much better day at knitting class. When the time was over I only had to fix 3. Of course, as usual, the entire time is spent tinking or fixing YOs or picking up dropped stitches, but now as we do it, we're explaining to the kids what they did to make it happen and how to fix the problem. There are the few that have NO confidence in themselves and need constant reassurance but are making no mistakes. Tomorrow is the last day of the formal classes, but I think I'm going to try to continue this somehow with these kids. I have kids from last week's class carrying around their own yarn and needles this week. It's so cool to see!

happy crafting

Update on knitting

I forgot to mention that at school yesterday 6 of my new knitters didn't show. There was a miscommunication between them and their teachers, so after school on Monday during chorus rehearsal I had 2 students ask if they could come to knitting even though they weren't on the list. Thinking I was down 6, I said sure! Well of the six, 4 of them came and another asked if she could trade spots with one that had been missing... add to that one more and I wound up with 8 new knitters today! Total = 26! My helper is a champ... she totally rocks. I grabbed the newbies, she took the fixes... Now mind you, every single one of them stopped first thing in the morning to grab their knitting to do when they were on down time from the test. I had all fixed but 2. So tonight I had to bring home 12 projects to pick up stitches here and there or to fix YOs or spots where they had knitted in the stitch below.....The picture on the left is what's ready to go back to school tmrw. I had to make sure that all were ready to go, because this group is REALLY enthusiastic. It does my heart good. :-D

On another note, I wanted to post a picture of Lily's fleece as it had been shorn off of her instead of crammed into the little box. That way you can see what a beautiful fleece she produces.

And last but not least, the cloth I did today (no not at work, after I got home)

Pattern: Right Angles Dishcloth by DilysSutherland Dishcloth Fun Mid March KAL
Yarn: Lily's Sugar and Cream
Color: Rosewood
Needle: Size 7 bamboo DPNS

I still can't post my cloth from the Monthly Dishcloth Group KAL because they haven't finnished. They should be done Wednesday but for me that's tmrw cuz I need to sleep. I'll put it all up tmrw night.

DS1 went to the dr. today. He seems to have a slight case of Pneumonia. SO he's on a wicked strong antibiotic. He's been sleeping so much and not eating hardly at all, which is so unlike him on both counts. DH has been home with hhim since Friday, but I can't not go in this week with the knitting thing.

I'm falling asleep at the keyboard.. .time for bed.
Happy crafting

More fleece

My rambo cross arrived today.. and boy is she a beaut. So soft and smells incredibly good... if you're reading this Holly, I kid you not, it was like a sweet smell when I opened the box. It's crammed packed with soft white Lily fleece. The name of the sheep is Lily...Now I really must stop buying fiber... both raw and spun! At least for a bit HAHA

Holly included a bit of roving from the fleece that she had washed up and flicked with her combs. This will give you an idea of how beautiful this yarn's potential is in the right hands... hope that I can do her justice!

Well week 2 of knitting class started today. I had all new kids. One had her grandma give her a crash course yesterday and today she was FLYING! Another boy had knitted before so he was doing well. I had only 1 leftie, but was well armed and taught her alone... in a true left handed fashion. And I had preloaded the knit stitch video from knittinghelp.com from home, so they got to watch that first off. PLUS, my cohort in crime is an experienced knitter. All in all, it went much much better, and the time really flew... 80 minutes with a large group of new knitters is nothing. I stayed after my chorus rehearsal a fixed a few YOs and dropped stitches and brought only 2 or 3 home to fix for the night.

The boys still have a low-grade fever. I think DS2 is just starting and DS1 is on the mend... hopefully they can tough it out tmrw. Poor kids. They were doomed... 2 weeks ago at my school we were missing 16% of the student body (that's like 110 kids) on one of the days. The rest of the days weren't as bad, but still were high in absenteeism.

I finished the Monthly Dishcloth KAL tonight but can't post a picture because they are about 19 rows behind me. I'll put in a little teaser though. I can start on one of the other KALs now that this one is finished :-)

Happy crafting!

Haiku

As I sit, trying to untangle a mess that one of my knitters made with a center pull ball (don't ask me how, I don't know.... she took it home as a center pull and brought it back the next day a rats nest) I was thinking of haiku that I could compose that would describe the last weeks experience.



teaching kids to knit:
dropped stitches and yarn overs
all test my patience

Balls of yarn
wound as center pull
seemed to me a great idea
why is it a mess?



It was a wonderful experience and taught me so much about knitting and fixing mistakes. Gave me a newfound confidence to try things out in my own knitting. But 21 beginners to handle alone in only 80 minute segments is too many!

wish me luck for this week!

New Projects

So I've started some KALs... not as many as I'd like, but one is really cool cuz I'm learning double knitting. You know, use two colors, one side of the FO has the background in the main color with the design in contrasting color and the other side has a background in the contrasting color and design in the main color. I'm starting small with a potholder, but I'm thinking of some very cool baby gifts that this could turn into (too bad I know no one who is expecting.... Laura give me some advance warning if you're thinking of taking the plunge!) I also had to learn the crochet cast on to start this project... Anyway, I think it will be a great tool and could help me when I finally take the big intarsia step!

I'm doing the Monthly Dishcloth KAL as well and want to start the Dishcloth Fun KAL... and there's a group KAL at At My House group that I'll probably start. I've also signed up for the April KAL at Get Stitchy for bath items. I'm thinking of a bath mat. It's been on my to do list for a while and I have all the necessary items, so why not?

I forgot to mention that I taught myself to knit continental last week and at the in-service at work on Friday, I taught myself to truly knit and purl left handed. All that's left is for me to do backwards knitting... and of course intarsia.

I've been spinning whenever I get the chance. Yesterday wasn't too much though. I was too busy digging us and our neighbors out. I wound up shovelling our front and side, and the front of 2.5 more neighbors out. The problem wasn't the snow it was the inch and a half of ice that was at the bottom. I admit.. I'm a bit sore today. I really need to do more exercise.

DH and I had a 'date' last night. One of his college students gave a voice recital so we went together. We should have gone out after but DS1 is still running a fever since Wednesday night so I felt like we really needed to get home. We got here and he was sound asleep.

OK... off to do some nuch needed work...happy crafting!

I apologize to my camera

It's not a crappy camera... it's a crappy user. As I was trying to take a picture this evening, I noticed the setting for taking pictures for a distance of less than 2 feet. DUH! so here are some more pictures to feast your eyes on!

More marble magnets:



The winter theme. There is also one of a dove flying on a winter night whose picture didn't come out as I'd like.




There are 5 of these that are exactly the same.. My intention is to match them to my mindset: either scattered or I'll have my 'ducks in a row' This picture doesn't do this magnet justice however!




The sports theme. We also have a soccer ball that I couldn't get the picture just right.



The bonbons seemed a bit camera shy as well.




And to give you an idea of how beautiful the ramboulette fleece is:
This was the most difficult to photograph because the camera wanted to focus on the background. I give thanks to DH's lazy boy and it's plain jane green upholstery.

Now that I have discovered how truly inept I am at taking pictures, and how to improve my close-up shots... expect to see more and better pictures. This discovery was very possibly the highlight of my day. I leave you with blurple and natural together. I must bathe my youngest. He's requesting it!

Requested information

g-girl reminded me that I forgot to tell all about the marble magnets. The kind we made last weekend were from the instructions on Not Martha Her pictures are much clearer than mine as well. She must have a better camera! My magnets look great IRL... We bought the generic clear bag from A.C. Moore but I'm going to look into getting a different kind. Even if I have to get them online, cuz I think it may be a great project for Christmas gifts this year!... Start saving those Altoid tins... You can also buy plain tins (I think it's mentioned on the marble instruction page) and that could be a great idea so you could decorate them yourself... Yup... I see many gifts in the future. Anyway, I'd like a better quality marble... clearer, cuz some in the bag have some funky designs in the glass every now and again and some have some strange shapes as well. Not precisely round if you get my drift!

We're in the midst of another winter weather event. Snow and sleet right now. and the winter storm warning lasts until 8 AM tomorrow... a full 24 hours. Of course we still had to report to in-service today because the school district doesn't give a rip if any of us are indangered because of driving in the muck! They were so generous and let us out 45 minutes early. The other districts in the area that had in-service had cancelled the day before 6 AM, but not mine! I won't type my thoughts. The presenter was great and the material was fine, it's just the attitude of the administration that has me riled... ok off the soap box! I did manage to knit a complete 'square' for the Warm Up America project and start a second. The health teacher knit about a third of one as well! Good thing I carried extra yarn and needles with me.....

I've plied another hank of 200 yards of Romney and there's also some on a bobbin plied.. but I think it's less than 100 yards. I'll spin more tonight.

I got the Polypay fleece today. I only glanced at the top. They included a small sample of their goats milk soap. Nice touch! There's a bit of grass and the tips are dirty, but not horrible. It should wash out pretty easily. Nice crimp and decent staple length.


Here's a picture of the ramboullette that arrived on Wednesday. This is just the tip of the iceberg. The box is exploding with fleece and it's about 15 inches tall. with the suface measurements the same as the flat rate square priority box. That one is going to be a blast to work with... the more I look at it, the more excited I am to start it!

back to the wheel... happy crafting~

pictures, finally

Well first let me post a picture of the dishcloth I completed the other day.

Pattern: 3 Cherries cloth by Judith Prindle
Yarn: Lily's Sugar and Cream
Color: Light Blue
Needle Size: 7

I'm thinking of gifting this to my neighbor who I gave a lacy blue cloth to a few weeks back. Her kitchen is blue and they'd look nice together.

Now to go backwards in time... Sunday's post spoke about some little marble magnets DD and I crafted together. We gifted a half dozen to the hostess of the Purim party that we attended that evening. I packaged them in an Altoids gum tin. The picture really stinks, but there are two that have a rather nebulus design, one in purples and the other in oranges and one that is striped. The other three have a flower theme (think spring) One is a drawing of a bird perched on what could be a magnolia or cherry blossom tree, the next is a grouping of yellow flowers (I have some in my garden... you would think I'd know the name) and the third is a stylized purple flower with yellow center. The last one shows up best in the picture... I should get a better camera I guess...It takes great regular shots but really crappy close ups..


I also plied 225 yards of romney last night. I put it on the skein winder to measure tonight and stretch... It looks pretty good even if I say so myself. Today my 5+ pounds of Ramboullet came from the Callens farm The fleece is incredible clean.. I mean truly clean. Barely any VM in it. I was so impressed And the crimp is so fine.. I can't even begin to count it... I think about 16 per inch...I can't wait to dig into it!

I washed a couple pounds of Targhee tonight... started it last night but it's on the drying rack now..

The good news is Day 3 of knitting class went very well. Yesterday was better than the first day. I brought home less to fix. Today, I brought home little to fix and actually let most of the kids take it home with them to work on. They told me we don't have homework we need something to do.. Comments from today were: This is so much fun, I like knitting, Are you going to do this again next year?, Couldn't we have a knitting club after school, It's really relaxing and other kids that aren't involved asked me about next year as well... so I think all in all it's pretty successful and that makes me feel great! Finally teaching them something that they can see value in, because music well it's fun for them, but it's different.

I've survived

day 1 of knitting class. The kids were so cute.. and so many YOs... I told them it was an advanced technique and they weren't allowed to do it LOL That and a few dropped stitches... oh well.. tmrw will be better.

I had pictures to post, but don't know where DH put the camera to upload them. I did a different crafty thing yesterday. I made those little marble magnets. We went to a Purim party (it was a week late) and I wanted to take something to the hostess besides the food and wine we were bringing along. So I made a half dozen spring motif ones for her... and some cute ones for us as well... 2 winter, 2 sport and 5 ducks all in a row. They are so fun to make. Guess the pictures will have to wait until later.

OK.. off to put the finishing touches on my chopstick knitting needles... maybe it will make it easier for my little cherubs tmrw!

happy crafting!!!!

How they felt

BEFORE FELTING


AFTER FELTING

Pattern: Little Turtle Knits felted moccasins
Yarn: Peace Fleece
Colors: Bagdhad Blue and Volgasippi Pink
Needle: Knit Picks Options size 10
Date started: March 04, 2007
Date ended: March 10, 2007

They're felted. I didn't felt them as much as I would have liked because I was afraid that they would wind up too small. Mom has big feet. They fit me in length but are too wide. I'm hoping they'll be just right for her as her feet and ankles are so swollen. As you can see they're to wide on me. I didn't alter the pattern at all for this pair. If I were to make them again, I'd make the bottom narrower, (affecting the top as well) and lower the front so they'd be less roomy. Most people that I know that make them make them for babies and it probably works well for them cuz they have such chubby little feet... but my feet are really skinny (the only part on my body that is LOL)

Still working on getting the project for school on Monday started. I have all the yarn in center pull balls now, and I have 13 started (cast on plus a couple of rows) so they can get right to the knitting.... Send me warm, knitty thoughts tomorrow afternoon as I face twenty some new knitters (ages 8-11)

Off to make banana bread with DD!

Being Felt Up

The slippers that is... They are all knitted, now to felt them. Mom, you'll be wearing them soon I promise!
Last night I spent a couple of hours carding Fuzzy... there is a LOT to that fleece... after all it weighed 8 pounds before washing. I now have a big rubbermaid container filled with rolags and still more to card. Is it possible that the fleece manufactures itself before carding.. I swear there's as much fleece in the bag now as before I was carding yesterday! LOL I also finished one bobbin and this morning started the second. I'll ply this when this bobbin is finished.. although I think I'll leave some single ply after this bobbin to make some socks.

I'm anxious to finish Fuzzy so I can start Petey and her sister. I have a couple more fleeces on the way… Lily (a ramboullet/shetland cross... her first shearing so she should be soft) who will be about 3 pounds skirted, a polypay that is 5 pounds skirted and ramboullet that is 5 pounds... so I think I have enough fiber to work with for a while.

I should probably spin up a bunch and send it off to my MIL to share... that would be nice, wouldn't it?

I also have to finish winding the yarn for Monday's school project and cast on 22 sets of 28 stitches with a couple of rows started for the little cherubs... YIKES....

perhaps there'll be a post with a picture of the slippers later... we'll see!

happy crafting

What??? A free pattern from me!

DH wanted a landscape cozy for his MacBook to protect the finish. Being that he doesn't complain about my wool purchases too much, I felt that I must oblige. I looked for a pattern on the web, but didn't find any. Just pictures of cozies that others had made, so I developed my own.


Felted MacBook Cozy
The MacBook circumferential dimensions are 20" tall by 27.5" wide by 1.25" deep

I used 2 ply Bartlett wool double stranded on size 11 needles.

SWATCH: 20 STITCHES and 20 ROWS
UNFELTED MEASUREMENTS: 6.75" by 5.25"
FELTED MEASUREMENTS: 6.5" by 4.5"

With these calculations I made the following pattern. Swatching and felting is VITAL to have a successful product here, since it needs to fit the computer. You need to do your own math adjusting stitch and row count, depending how your swatch felts.

•CO 4 stitches (long tail method)
•K 51 rows
Using either dpns or a circular needle,
•Pick up and K 37 stitches along the length,
•4 stitches at the other end of the the rectangle
•37 stitches along the other side. (this should give 82 stitches)
•Place Marker
•Taking care not to twist the stitches, join in the round - note the first rows of the circular stitching are difficult if you're knitting on a circular that is too large unless you're using the Magic Loop.
•K 36 rows (rounds)'
•Bind Off 45 stitches (these should begin with one of the 'short sides and end with the other 'short' side,
leaving one long side (37 stitches) open
•K these 37 stitches flat in stockinette stitch for 20 rows
•Bind Off these 37 stitches

Felt in washer. Checking frequently for size.

In order that my cozy dried in the correct shape, I found some books that were the same size as the laptop. and covered them with a plastic bag as to not ruin them, then inserted them in the felted bag until it was dry. I also pinned the flap in place to assure that it would have the correct shape.

After all was dry, I chose three buttons, sewed them on and cut buttonholes in the flap. You can needle felt any decoration you wish now. I chose to put my husband's initials in a font that he elected.
©pattern by Carole Burkhardt 2007

I've read that you should line your cozy in an anti-static cloth. He keeps his inside the cozy in his briefcase and hasn't had any static problems with it being unlined, but I'm thinking of lining it anyway.

I offer this for your personal use. If you want to share this pattern, please post a link to this page and give me the credit for the design. Thanks so much!

If I can decipher my notes, I'll post the portrait version of this that I made for my nephew for Christmas in the near future!

the picture is revealed

Well the KAL ended today so I can post a picture
Pattern: Bunny by Judith
Yarn: Lily's Sugar and Cream
Color: Cream
Needle Size: 7

Visit Judith's blog. She has a lot of beautiful free patterns. She also runs the Fun Knitting Dishcloth KAL group which now has their own yahoo group in addition to the blog.

I finally CO mom's slippers the other night. I want to finish them as soon as I can. This is the yarn that I'm using. I joined the stitch for chicks KAL at stitchy. I was originally thinking of making the entire slipper blue and using the hot pink as the i cord edging. But I'm afraid there isn't enough blue. The yarn is Peace Fleece Bagdhad blue and Volgisippi Pink. I love the intensity of the colors.

The big project starts on Monday. Two groups of 24 students will be spending 80 minutes for 4 afternoons with me learning to knit (or knitting if they already can) I have to finish rewinding the yarn - 11+ pounds (another teacher is helping) and wax the chopsticks. We'll donate the squares or blanket to Warm Up America. I thought about giving them to firefly for her gracious parcels project, but the requirements for her squares may be more than these newly learning knitters can accomplish. I'll be posting daily regarding their project. Some of the kids are very excited. I know I am!

Last night I carded and spun a BUNCH of wool/yarn. I was going to go to bed early cuz I was falling asleep putting DD to bed but when I laid down I couldn't sleep. So I got up and carded, then found out we had a late start today because of the cold. So of course I stayed up way too late... oops!

Happy crafting

One FO

Finally. It's only a dishcloth. I've been in such a slump. Not feeling like doing much of anything. I started to swatch the blurple yarn, but decided I think I may make regular mittens instead. Really I should get knitting on mom's felted slippers, then I think I'd feel better. Perhaps I'll CO today for that project.

I can't post a picture of the dishcloth yet, cuz it's from the Monthly DIshcloth KAL group and today is only day 3. They won't be finished for a few days at least. I just figured out what pattern it was and finished the cloth. Wierd cuz I expected a St. Patty's Day theme...

I found a place in town with round chopsticks. So I boughr 2 dozen for the project at school. Yesterday at school I sharpened the ends. Last night I sanded them, today I'll lightly wax them and they'll be ready. We're using rubber bands on the ends that keep the stitches on.... I have 9 more pounds of yarn to rewind and the fun begins March 12. I hope I'm not biting off for than I can chew!

i was spinning more on the drop spindle last night. I think it's time to buy my own, cuz I think I'd like a top whorl. The bottom whorl gets to the floor to fast for me LOL I'm doing the Lincoln Longwool that way. Kind of making it thicker cuz I'm thinking about making a rug with that yarn... We'll see.

I also washed up some Targhee that I bought from a sweet woman (whom I'll certainly buy from again) cuz Lea had some of it spun posted on her web and I got itchy to do mine! It's drying. I washed about a pound or so. Man there's a bunch of fiber in that box LOL I think it will be really nice.

Also I prepaid for 4 pounds of this year's shearing of a Polypay fleece. I'm anxious to see what it's like.

And my favorite aunt, who now lives in CA, has a friend with llamas, who said that he'll send me his spring shearing from his farm. I know it's not soft (llama wool in general) but it will be great for felted bags etc.... and it's free fiber ;-) On a sadder note, she's been diagnosed with colon cancer. Surgery is slated for March 14, so prayers are appreciated.

Yesterday on the way to school, the serpentine belt fell off the car. It's happened twice before (can you say design flaw?), so I figured what it was. Serendipitiously, it happened not far from a service station. I was able to maneuver the car to the station where they were able to fix it. Of course I had to leave the car there while I went to work. A nice co-worker came to pick me and the boys up and took us to our respective spots (we were about 7 minutes away from where we should have been) and after school my best buddy, whom I work with, took us back to the garage. DH had nothing to do with the whole process. I found out at dinner that he was home all morning and could have rescued us... of course it would have taken MUCH longer (because of the distance) so it all worked out fine. My luck with this van lately has just been BAD..... But I'm thankful it was a quick fix and things went very smoothly.. I work with a bunch of great people!