family birthdays

Happy Birthday DH and Meme.... we wish you lots of happiness.

I baked a death by chocolate cake for DH. The kids helped a bit... ours is 3 layer. We doubled the recipe. When they say it will sink when cooled.. they aren't kidding. Also really do refrigerate it before you try to remove it from the pan... One layer I didn't. That's the middle layer. My slice came with strawberries on the side. One warning... it's REALLY rich. it killed me for sure


In crafty news, the black hoggett finn fleece has been spun up... about 430 yards of triple ply and another 50 some of double ply.
These



became this for one example




I also finished the 20th square for Lizard Ridge.. if I weren't making it larger, I could start assembling. It's fun to see the Noro stash diminish and the pile of squares grow.

Time to start blocking the squares for the Way wedding blanket.... and finish the remainging 4 cable squares. Maybe I should design that W block.


off to deconstruct...... and i think I've finally decided on a store name for my etsy shop.... what a hard decision to make... as bad as naming your child.

10 on tuesday sounds

Today's 10 on Tuesday is favorite sounds:

• ocean waves
  
• waterfall
  
• rain falling
  
• my kids laughing
  
• whispers in my ear
  
• birds singing in the morning
  
• singing voices.. whether my families, friends or kids at school
  
• music.... really any kind
  
• the sound my cell phone makes when I have a text msg
  
• silence
  

tour de fleece 09

this is what I finished spinning during the tour de france this year



TOP: grape ice merino 2 ply 450 yards light worsted 361 g
2nd ROW:rio merino finished 2 ply 1272 yds DK 504g
3rd ROW: lincoln longwool... waiting to be measured alpaca... not nearly finished
BOTTOM: hogget finn....480g..... still spinning singles will triple ply

not as much as last year but still not terribly shabby... if you'd like to see what the other ravelers made check out the Tour de Fleece group on flickr.

I was really happy that Lance made it to the podium. Contador did an amazing race he really did deserve the yellow jersey. It will be interesting to see who is on the Radio Shack team with Lance Armstrong next year. Rumor has it that Levi Leipheimer has already been recruited. Time will tell.

fetching for.....

Pattern: Fetching by Cheryl Niameth
Yarn: Some acrylic bought on Scalabrini Ortiz in BA
Color: Black (obviously)
Needle: US8 dpns
Recipient: BFF Gail

so i started these on the plane home from BA... I knew she wanted acrylic so she could wash them. This stuff was really soft and felt silky smooth. I didn't have a clue on the yardage since they sell it by hank and without ball bands when they make it there themselves. I only knew how much it weighed .... if I had a McMorran balance I could have figured it out... or if I had had a scale could have divided it into 2 equal parts, but had neither with me in BA so I just started knitting on the plane, not paying very close attention to the directions... finishe one mitt and read the directions.. lo and behold I had put 5 cable repeats in the mitt... and then wasn't sure if I had enough yarn to finish the second. I liked the extra repeats, but...I started the second and knit up to the end of the 3rd cable repeat.

so after I got home I weighed the finished mitt and the remaining yarn with the half finished 2nd mitt and found that i was just shy of enough for the second mitt. So I ripped out the first to the 3rd cable repeat, finished the second mitt as per the pattern, and then finished the first in the same way. I skipped the picot bind off... for me it did nothing to the mitts... phew.. there was about 6 yards left.

I got a bit too much sun today while waiting for DD at her swim lesson. It should be fine tmrw though and really makes me look as if I've been spending time in summer weather, which it hasn't actually been. I'm not complaining at all. We've had really lovely weather since we got back from BA.... sun and not too humid or hot.. I'm lovin' it!

tour de fleece

here's the latest spinning. I'm calling it oceana. There's more than this spun... but I have almost 2/3 left to spin...


and this is the grape ice that I finished earlier on in the tour.

I've been knitting.. finished fetching for Gail... picture tmrw... and all but finished the plain squares for the way afghan.

And I've been deconstructing... so far these are deconstructing and in the to be frogged pile
JCrew XL maroon 100 wool










Abercrombie & Fitch Men's XL cable 80 wool/20 nylon










GAP stretch red lambswool crewneck M 97 Lambswool/1 spandex/2 other











JCREW Blue Lambswool Mens' L










Carole Little L beige cable v neck 54 nylon/40 angora rabbit/6 lambswool

beautiful night

for a ball game....


with seats just to the left of home plate. Iron PIGS dominated the game 12-0 giving up only 2 hits

hambone was right in front of me (blocking my view)





The moon tonight was incredible.. I wanted to take the real camera out on the tripod.. but have to settle for this lousy shot i took.


off to spin.. since I can't sleep

day 4 accomplishments

a bit more than 450 yards of 2 ply yarn.. a little thick and thin but mostly worsted. It needs to be washed and thwacked to set the twist... then I'll measure WPI and weight.

So all the purple and white merino is complete. I started on the blue/green roving. and am spinning that thin. It's what I spin better.. but it takes me longer.. so I won't be plowing through that as quickly as I did the purple... perfect for the upcoming mountains!

Team Astana did an incredible job yesterday and this morning Lance held his own.. with the team pushing him ahead. It's going to be a great month of racing I think. Thos men are incredible machines.

The other night I made empanadas for dinner... yummo. Spinach and blue cheese, celery and walnut... I love both kind

Tonight Iron Pigs baseball at the park.. can't wait.

cashmere day

Wow.. what a day... workout, one of those annual visits, and then the thrift store... SCORE! 17 sweaters to frog, 1 felted, 2 to wear, 2 shirts and an OLD kodak camera for under $60. 5 of the sweaters are 100% cashmere and 2 are a cashmere blend. Incredible day... really... a very happy day for me!

Since I was out in the morning I had to watch the tour at night. I already knew the results but it was fun to watch and spin myself. I almost finished spinning the last of the purple and white roving. But I fell asleep before I could finish. So this morning was a rest day for Wii Active (yay) and I finished the singles and started to ply... the picture is the resulting yarn. I haven't finished plying yet but I hope to by the day's end. I managed to snap a shot of myself at my wheel as well... just for laughs with my yellow tour de France Tshirt on. I am loving the month of July... wish it could last all year!

I'm working my way on the Way afghan.. There are only a few more squares to do... Too bad it will be too large to enter in the Allentown Fair.. I'm thinking when all is said and done it will be about 72" square... kind of large... but great for two to cuddle up in on a long winter's night.

Still need a picture of DH's socks. I'll get them without his feet I guess. I need some sock blockers.. maybe my brother could make me some for Christmas! or I should make some from hangers... that works too.

100g spun

and it looks like this:



sitting on my Tour de France shirt (remember it from the thrift store??)


and Louise my wheel sporting the shirt. She deserves to wear the yellow shirt too!


Otherwise, it's kind of a boring day for me. It was a rest day for Wii Active which was nice because I am a little sore today. Fireworks tonight and maybe a band concert beforehand at the city center.

Have a great 4th!

tour de France

starts VERY soon. I can't wait. My wheel is out and I'm spinning that purple fiber in the post below... will post more later :-)

yarn p0rn

This is what I bought for myself in BA

Merino top roving





Manos Clasica





I started the Wii Active 30 day program yesterday.. I'm a little sore.
This morning after the Wii session, I tamed the jungle yard. Cut the grass andtrimmed the holly and roses and weeded all the beds. It took me almost 4 hours. As I was weeding it started to spit and rain... but I didn't cave... I'm a bit tired now... so the afternoon will be an easy one for me.

More pictures tmrw of knitted items!

pictures are loaded

from the trip to BA on my on my facebook. If you'd like to see them click here.
I have to say there are a few that are really wonderful.

Happy birthday to my dear brother who is 54 today. I hope you have a wonderful day.

It rained last night (again) and even though DH promised to cut the grass, he didn't so now I can't cuz it's so wet... it's going to eat me first I think.

Maybe tmrw.. cuz the tour de fleece starts on Sat alongside the tour de France. I am so excited for this! Last year was the first year that I watched as well as participated. I brought lots of yummy fleece to spin on the trip. I'll post pictures of that very soon....