Targhee anyone?

Well I was spinning again Saturday and was a tad more successful. I think that I didn't have enough twist in last week. But I'm still not overjoyed with the result. Here you can see what I accomplished. I wouldn't normally have taken it off the spool yet, but it broke and I couldn't find the end. So.... I have a few very short skeins here. I have plenty of fiber to play with so I'll get it eventually!


This picture may give you a better idea as to how fine I was trying to get the yarn. Please remember I'm spinning on a Louet S10 which isn't known for it's lace spinning. It's more of a medium to bulky weight yarn wheel... go figure I try to do something that's really hard without a high speed whorl!





Here's absorba the great. It's about half done I guess. I'm itching to finish to put it in the bathroom. I tried it there when it was just a bitty square and the colors look great next to the tub! When I work onthe other one (the Lion Brand pattern) that one feels so wimpy in comparison. 2 strands 4 ply versus 3 strands 8 ply.... this mat is appropriately named. They are due for the get stitchy April Showers KAL tmrw... I know neither will be finished. Oh well!



I made something that I think I could use as a stitch marker this week. Let me know what you think! Of course you'll nees to turn your head to the side in order to get the idea!
OK... I should hit the rack now that the yarn nest is untangled and on the skein winder. I'm really beat.

happy crafting

Yearning for yarn?

I have some photos for you then!

First, my lastest of the wheel. I like to call them my twins because they measure in at 273 yards and 276 yards, at 11 wpi. Pretty close in size I'd say. This is still from Fuzzy, the first raw fleece I purchased. Romney if you recall. There's still more fiber left from her. but I've moved on to the Targhee blend even though it doesn't seem to like the way I was spinning on Sunday. So I put the wheel up for a few days. Hopefully next time I'm treadling, the fiber and I will not be at such odds!

I was at ACMoore yesterday. I needed to pick up a display board for a project DD has for school. Of course, since Sugar and Cream was 96¢ a skein, I couldn't leave without picking up a few. Can you guess how many from the photo? More than I need but not as many as I would have liked to given a home to. LOL



Seems as though Tuesday was fiber day, because my order from Elmore Pisgah arrived. 5 pounds of peaches and cream. 3 pounds of it are for the absorba the great bathmat from the MasonDixon book. And this is what I accomplished earlier this evening. That bath mat uses triple stranded double worsted weight. With 3 little ones sometimes all in the tub at the same time, my bathroom needs this! The tiles are off white, with an occasional small aqua tile added in and the fixtures (tub, sink and potty) are the same aqua... it's a very 50's color so I think this mat will look great in there.



Along in the box were these 2 one pound cones of colors that were overruns. I love the blue and the varigated will make pretty cloths for gifts for several folks that are on my list.


Just to add to the gluttony of cotton yarn in this post, I'll include a picture of some Lion Brand that I got on sale at my local Hancock's Fabrics (they're closing many of the stores.... so sad for me!) I love the Lion Brand cotton cuz the skeins are nice and big! Everything in this picture was 40% off. The colors are dark ones, but I'm sure I'll find good use for them. I bought every skein they had in the store. Just wish they had had some other colors as well. But you can't be choosy when you are waiting for the mark-downs. I popped in there on Easter Monday, when my yarn buying diet was over because all that yarn had been calling my name during Lent. Included are 3 skeins of DMC Senso crochet cotton I want to try with some bookmark patterns. Since I still can't crochet, they'll be knitted ones. They also had some fabric strip yarn that was tempting me, but I didn't bring any home because of its ridiculously expensive price even at 40% off. It was purty though.

I leave you with another picture of my handspun.

Happy Crafting!

Happy Earth Day. Spring has finally arrived!

and so the colors of the mid-month KAL from the Monthly Dishcloth KAL group say that as well.


Pattern: Diamond Drop Lace by Alli
Yarn: Lily's Sugar 'n Cream
Color: Playtime
Needle Size: 7

This one will go to my friend to whom I gave the other cloth that was very possibly the most difficult cloth I've made. Both have a lacy pattern and both were mid-month KAL from the Monthly Dishcloth KAL group. The other was with the color Over the Rainbow. My friend's kitchen is orange and I think that these cloths will look great in her kitchen. She loves the first cloth so much, she deserves a second!

I was spinning yesterday and today I plied about 400+ yards of Romney.. I want to take a break from Fuzzy and spin some of the Targhee I have up... maybe I'll shoot for a lace weight. My friend Lea has me contemplating making a shawl. I even bought some lace weight merino from a Pure wool coop.....

ACMoore has Lily's on sale this week 96¢ a skein... guess where I'm going? I also bought some Peaches and Cream double worsted weight from Elmore Pisgah so that I can make the Mason Dixon absorba the great bath mat. With my kids we need it!

Happy crafting!

School Knitting Update

Well today we took inventory. There are 46 'squares' in various states of being finished. Actually there 38 completed and the other 8 will be by the weekend (Mrs. C and I will see to that!) I'm really proud of these kids. Especially since most of them had never held a knitting needle before in their lives.

And I saw the local Girl Scout troop leaders after school and told them that I'd be happy to mark the girls books for the knitting badges who were in class with me. They already checked them out... but the good news is that next year they want to be in on the project. This could really blossom into something nice... I'm feeling happy about that.

happy Crafting

Local flooding

and not from the noreaster that recently hit our area over the weekend. No, this was the 2 YO type. Apparently, he feels that his working mother doesn't have enough to occupy her time and shouldn't have a minute to park her arse to do anything selfish!

I was in the living room, checking my e-mail after having worked with 5-12 year old kids all day... about 150 or so today, taking DS2 to the pediatrician to have his strange reaction checked out (more about that later) Both boys were with me at the doctor. The day was long for all of us. At that time DD was home with DH eating pizza. We arrived about 5:30 and DH promptly left. I digress. So I'm sitting checking my mail from the past 2 days when DS1 calls from the kitchen, "Mom, you better come quick. We have a problem here. It's an emergency." So up I get and run the 25 feet to the kitchen. I see water pouring in on the kitchen floor from the powder room on the other side of the kitchen and I hear the toilet running as if it's flushing continuously...... ummmmm, I'd say there's an emergency!

I splash through the water, the meantime, DS1 is running butt naked and crying frantically cuz he has to go to the bathroom. "Go upstairs" is my response. DS2 has drug a chair over to the counter with the pizza box and is helping himself to a slice, DD is standing on a chair screaming some unintelligible sounds that I still have no idea what meant. I make it back to the bathroom and open the tank which is almost empty... hmmmmm Guess I should turn the water off to the tank, so that was next. Now to clean up the floor. Where o where could the shop vac be? Oh where o where could it be??????? Quick call to DH... Of course, in the garage, and full of dry dirt... wonderful! Naturally, I didn't discover the last fact until I had carried the thing back to the house (did I mention our garage is detached??) so back I go to dump the dirt in the garbage can.... lug it back inside and attempt to put it all together. For some reason, there was no suction. I am still clueless as to why but after I cleaned most of the dirt and dust from the filter, the suction seemed to improve immensely. hmmmmmm

I put the contraption back to it's 'working' state and try the suction again. Voila, Houston, we have hit paydirt and the water begins to miraculously disappear off the floor and into the shop vac.... or so I think. How foolish I am! No, I look back and now there is a yellowish/brown water on the floor behind the shopvac... hmmmmm Turn it off again, take it apart, dump the little water that is in the conatiner out and try to discern the problem. I still at this time, have not determined what caused it, but temporarily abated the leak from the shop vac back to the floor, long enough to suck up the remaining water. Get a rag towel. Dry the floor, Dump the shop vac, rinse it out. Take it out to the garage to have DH pulling in and proclaim, "so what is the problem" "Oh, nothing dear. Just a little water play that got out of hand" Smile turn and storm away!

Return to the house, (now well past my children's bedtime) and tell the 3 to arise from the basement. Their father is home and he can deal with bedtime. Back to the toilet, DS2 has recently learned to use wipes. now I use cloth diapers, so normally we use cloth wipes, but we have flushable ones for the older 2 kids sitting on the back of the johnny. Well he was wiping himself (apparently mom didn't do a thorough enough job?) and putting the 'used' wipes in the hopper. I'd say he used half a box (they tell you not to try to flush more than 2 at a time) I pull the wipes out of the bowl with the bowl brush, put them in a platsic shopping bag (guess it's good DH 'forgets' the cloth ones we have whenever he does the grocery shopping) Put that out in the trash. Try to turn the water back on tp to the tank. I must have had Herculean strength when I turned the valve off to get the water to stop running from the toilet. Cuz now I can't budge it... great.. one more thing for the grown up male of the house to be annoyed with me about... because Lord knows I don't do enough!

ERR... guess there'll be no knittng tonight. Could have been worse, I could still be doing our taxes!

As promised

Pattern: Flower Cloth by Rhonda White
Yarn: Lily's Sugar 'n Cream
Color: Hot Green
Needles: Size 7 Knit Picks Options

This was a KAL for the Love2Knit Dishcloth yahoo group. The picture doesn't do the color justice. I think there are too many reds in this photo... It's in natural light but isn't accurate in color


Pattern: Woozy by smariek
Yarn: Lily's Sugar 'n Cream
Color: Beach Ball Blue
Needles: Size 7 Knit Picks Options

I love the colors in this yarn. Fun, fun, fun. This was the KAL for the Dishcloth Fun yahoo group But I think Judith left out some rows in the middle. According to the picture on smariek's page, there should be a double cable crossing in the middle (as it happens on either end) but there's only one crossing. The cloth is kind of small as well. Adding that cable crossing would add a bit more to the length of the cloth and almost make it square.

Dinner last night was fine. I was feeling really poorly though. I think perhaps it's strep throat. I came home and went to bed. I had the angel hair pasta with artichoke hearts (mmm) a half portion and I didn't even eat half of that... no desert for me thank you very much. The company was great though. The guest of honor, Antoinette, is the sister of the lady who wrote the book Song of Survival. The book's author, Helen, nor their younger sister who was also interred with them, didn't sing in the chorus but Antoinette did. Their mother was in a different camp and their father another one. The father died before the war was over, but all the women survived and moved to the states. I think I remember my DH saying they were from the Netherlands originally. Anyway, they moved to California. Antoinette also helped copy parts out for the vocal orchestra and brought the booklet to the states with her after the war. She kept if for quite some time and when she noticed it was starting to deteriorate, she donated it to Stanford University. In turn, Stanford got a womens choral group together to recreate the concert that the women had given in the POW camp. The story is amazing, if you have time at least rent the DVD.

OK.. I have to straighten up a bit.. Sitter comes at 2:45 (a new sitter at that) so I can go to the concert. I really would rather be curling up in bed but I feel like I should go. Still haven't finished those taxes.....

happy crafting

Who has time?

OK.. I have 2 cloths done but no pictures. I have started (finally) the April KAL at Get Stitchy called April Showers. I wanted to do the bath mat in the MDK book but don't have double worsted cotton and couldn't see the joy of holding and knitting with 6 strands of 4 ply regular worsted so I've saved that project for later. Instead I'm using a mix of Peaches and Cream and Sugar and Cream both in beige. to knit the Nana's Bathmat from Lion Brand. I'll do a varigated beige and white for the edges... boring colors I know but the bathroom in the basement is beige and grey, so.....

I'm feeling very tired and sore today... I think I'm fighting off a bug. DH took DS1 to a birthday party for one of his pre-school buddies and DD went along. DS2 is asleep on my lap. I still have a messy kitchen house to clean and income taxes to finish....

Tonight we are going to dinner at the Apollo Grill with a bunch of people from Moravian College music department and a special guest with her husband and caregiver. For some reason one of the FT faculty had an idea to do concerts this year with the theme "Music in the Time of War" DH is the conductor of the Women's chorus and they are performing tomorrow afternoon a concert of music that the women in the POW camp in Sumatra performed during their interment. It's all orchestral music arranged for women's voices without text... The whole story is explained in the book Song of Survival and the resulting film Paradise Road starring Glenn Close... a truly inspiring true tale of how music can touch lives and help keep sanity in times of great duress. Anyway, the special guest at this dinner is one of the survivor's of the camp. It should be interesting.
Now if I could only find a sitter so I can go to the concert!

While arranging for a sitter for this dinner (on the phone), the 3 cherubs were in the family room (in the basement) watching Harry Potter and the goblet of fire when of course what do they see..... a spider, one by one, they came flying up the steps screaming about this spider and how I had to get it. By the time I got off the phone and down there, it was nowhere to be seen. I'm sure in their little minds, it was as large as the spider that speaks in the movie.

The spinning/knitting front is very slow going these days. Too much work and family interferes with time for my latest passions. I have to get moving on the squares for the school project as well. I've been calling them in from the kids to get a count on how many we have. I think some kids absconded with yarn and needles to make stuff for their own agendas... sigh!

I promise some pictures later if not today, definitely tomorrow.
Happy crafting

Happy Easter - A fowl post

Here they are... aviary and their progeny.




Which came first, the chick or the egg?



or







I've got my ducks in a row!




The eggs are from the Curly Purly pattern I'll probably wind up making a dozen or so. Then I can put them away in an egg box for storage with the rest of the easter stuff. So far, I have 4 done. I had started another but ripped it out today while sitting in the dentist chair.

I went shopping after the dentist today. Just to my local Hancock's to see if they had any Lion Brand Cotton left. They have yarn left..... I wound up bringing home 17 skeins of cotton for a great price. Not my first pick in colors but usuable ones, navy, forest green, black and red white & blue ombre. I also picked up some other cotton yarn - 3 skeins, looks to be about a crochet weight, that I thought would be good for making bookmarks... It was all 40% off. I'll go back when the other yarns (cashmere blend...) are reduced a bit more. DS2 was sound asleep on my shoulder the whole time!

Here is a picture of the last basket. I won't bore you with the details since it's all been posted before.


And the three together with all their knitty stuff in them.

I hit the nail right on the head with DDs comment. It was the first thing out of her mouth that her brother's basket was larger than hers.... I know that little girl too well! But on the other hand she was an angel in church both Friday and Sunday AND she stepped up to the plate and changed 2 diapers for me on Sunday... one even had a little package in it. Gotta love that kid! :-)

We went to my brother and SILs for dinner on Sunday and as usual, the food was out of this world. I took along empanadas for our kids and we brought dessert. I had all good intentions of making everything, but DS2 decided that he wanted to be a night owl on Saturday, so the intentions never came to fruition. DH made an apple crisp (his signature dish) and we bought 2 cakes at Cramer's in Yardley.

While there, I bid on and won 1 pound of grease wool from Peace Fleece for 99¢ on eBayOf course, my infamous Dory brain took over and I forgot to take mom her slippers and dad his book AND the camera.... DH will have to play runner for me this week! Sometimes I think if it wasn't attached, I'd forget my head

I figured out the federal taxes tonight... Now I need to put the numbers on the forms. And do the state and local. At least we'll see some $ back this year... I guess there is a benefit to all those kids (OK I know, it's only 3 but sometimes it feels like a lot more!) I think I should change my W-4 though... I rather have the money all year than wait to get it back. (I like to think of it like having a little savings account or vacation fund)

OK... too late for me.. work in the morning and I still need to finish those taxes.Good thing I've got until the 17th this year. Hopefully they'll be out before the weekend though. I had wanted to get so much more done this holiday time... oh well... life goes on. too much to do, too little time!

happy crafting

Heart *felt* gifts - warning picture heavy

To start with, remember the felted LTK mocs I made for my mom? Well they were a tad too big, so home they came and back in the washer. Now they really should fit her perfectly. They tightened up in the width pretty well and didn't lose that much length, I'm happy to say


And now for the Easter project. I made this Spring Basket pattern for all three of my kids. Pre-felting it was floppy and messy looking. In fact DS2 thought they were hats. So I took a picture of all 3 in their 'hats'. They are pretty big for their heads as you can see.


But after felting, I love them. They're just large enough for the knitted peep, a CP Easter egg a Josh Early chocolate bunny and some small assorted candies






Pattern: Y2Knit Felted Spring Basket March 2005
Yarn: Patons 100% Classic Merino (about half a skein)
Color: Rosewood
Needle: Size 11 Knit Picks Options and Size 11 bamboo dpns

Pattern: Y2Knit Felted Spring Basket March 2005
Yarn: Patons 100% Classic Merino
Color: Denim
Needle: Size 11 Knit Picks Options and Size 11 bamboo dpns

The red one is still felting (it's third time through). The Paton's took one cycle in the machine but I used a different wool for the red one (see this post) and it's turning out a bit larger. I'm sure DD will have a fit that her brother's basket is bigger than hers... oh well... tough nooggies. I have to say, I like hers the best though. I love the way the colors of the varigation felted. The sides are stripey, the attached i-cord is chunks of color and the bottom is so cool the way the colors pooled. But I'm sure her 7 year old mind won't process all that.

I'll definitely make this pattern again... probably for gifts. It would make a great teacher/day care provider gift because it knits up pretty quickly and doesn't use much wool... You may even be able to get by on a 50g skein, although I can't guarantee that.

I was knitting the Monthly Dishcloth KAL in hot orange and once I realized it was the three crosses I frogged it. It just didn't seem right to knit that image in hot orange. Raisin would be a better color I think. And I'm not sure I want to do dishes with a cross cloth, so I'm going to adapt it as a bookmark and knit it in Paton's Grace in the purple color, with only one cross instead of three. Hmmm, something else to finish before Sunday!

happy crafting

Needle Stash :-0

Someone over at the sewing and knitting diaper forum on Diaper Pin put a post asking to list your needle stash. I thought that was a good idea to inventory since I really don't know and this is what I came up with.


CIRCULARS:
2 sets of KP OPTIONS with added 13, 15, & 17 tips and 40", 42" & 60" cables

ADDI TURBOS:
12" -#8
16" - #5, #6, #7, #8
24" #6, #8, #10.5
32" #3
40" #13, #15

unbranded (I don't know the brands cuz they were hand me downs)
16" #8, #11
26" #5
29" #3, #4, #5, (3) #6, #8, #9
30" #10
32" #5
36" #11

STRAIGHTS:
METAL:
9" -
Boye #1, #2(only 1 needle), #3,
Susan Bates #4 (3 needles) #6, #9

Noname -#3

14"
AERO: #10.5, #15
BOYE: #2(2 needles), #3, #5, #7, #9 - 2 pr, #10, #13,
CHESTER: #5
HERO: #2, #6, #10 (1 needle)
SUSAN BATES: #4- 2 pr, #6, #35
No Name: #2, #5, #8, #9, #10, #10.5

WOODEN PEACE FLEECE: #8, #10

PLASTIC JUNK from 5&10
#3 (1 needle), #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #10.5, #11

DPNs:
BAMBOO: (sets of 5 except the 10" #7 cuz I sat on one)
7" sizes 0 - 10.5 from ebay seller
10" sizes 0-11 from ebay seller
5" sizes 1-11 Stanwood Crafting

METAL:
7"
#0 - 3
#1 - 6
#3- 8
3.25 mm - 3
#4 - 10
#11 - 5

PLASTIC:
#3 Boye 7 inch - 2
#11 Noname 10" - 4


I'm a good portion through the second basket and have 3 cloths OTN.... I better go knit!

Happy Crafting