Lucky for me....

...my sweater comes with it's own boobs :) So, yeah, I might have forgotten to mention that I was working on a shrug. I'm currently in the vast pit of the forever knitting that is the outer edging. 392 stitches. three-hundred-ninety-twooooooooooooooooooooo...But, I love the color the pattern and the shape (so far- you never know about these things until you try it on...) It's called Francesca from Debbie Bliss using the Rialto yarn in a lovely forest-y green color. It's the first time I've ever picked a sweater this way. Usually, I find a pattern I can't live without and I substitute yarn that I love and try to make gauge and go from there. This time I fell for the yarn and decided that I wanted a pattern that was written especially for the yarn to avoid the trouble it takes to make things work and went looking for a pattern book. I didn't think I would have any trouble since it was Debbie Bliss and sho'nuff I found what I was looking for! Then for some reason, I cast on right away. And even more weird, I kept knitting on it. I just felt like knitting it and so I did and all of the sudden, it's mostly a sweater!!!! Who knew!!

Another thing I forgot was to tell you; where the lovely batt from the Pagosa Fiber Festival came from originated (my mom reads this so I can't end a sentence with a preposition :) Lotus Designs Fiber Arts are the purveyors of my oh so wonderful (but slightly mysterious since the purple marker telling me what kind of fiber it is has rubbed off...) first batt. Thanks y'all!!

Into the Wild...

...tee hee that's what my daughter (the Cheese) called our little adventure to Colorado this past weekend. You see, I've hooked my family on fiber festivals and this weekend was a little one called the Pagosa Fiber Festival. What a beautiful part of the country. We stayed at these fabulous cabins near downtown Pagosa Springs and the town itself is so quaint and cute (but still has the necessities, like an excellent bakery with even more excellent coffee :) Any who, I have stash enhancement and (as my aunt was want to point out) I crossed over to the dark side...

I guess technically, I crossed over a few months ago when I bought some lovely roving from The Loopy Ewe...

But since then, I've mulled over whether or not to dive in and decided that PFF was going to be the place. I visited Crazy Monkey at their booth and fell for a lovely little canary wood and birch drop spindle...

My husband choked a little when we browsed the spinning wheels that were at the festival...but I don't think that I'll tell him that the one that I really want is more expensive than my laptop. It didn't help things that the gal that stayed in the cabin next to us was spinning on her porch the morning we left. I can wait though...probably.
Anyway, stash enhancement was meager but super fun...this is Candy Hearts (super wash Merino about 490yd and 100gs)...

and this lovely is Delicious Apples of the same. Both are from Crazy Monkey
We had a wonderful time and will definately be back next year and we'll be staying for longer!

ETA: Check this out...

Ode to Wendy...

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 0 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

I thought this was fun and found it when I visited this gals website which I found because Wendy Knits has a coooooooool new feature on her comments...specifically, you can see what the latest blog post is of the commenter. So, when you put in your name, email and then blog, magically, your latest entry shows as a link after your comment. I totally love that :) Go visit, she's having a drawing for an iPod :) Thanks Wendy!!

So since this is an ode to Wendy I'll review my "Wendy" project because I can't decided what to do...This is a baby blanket for my 'new' nephew. If I keep going at this rate, he will never see this blanket...we've had some trouble along the way, this is actually the second try...It's Wendy's 'Crest 'o' the Wave' Pattern which I'm knitting now in Fiesta, Boomerang (Quince) purchased from the Loopy Ewe. Each skein makes five repeats of the pattern and unblocked the repeat is 1 3/4 inches tall and two inches wide. That should make it about 33 inches wide...and (8.5, carry the 4, multiply by pi, factor in the angle of the sun in May) and 34 inches tall...unblocked. I'm afraid it's too wide and that I'll be mad because it'll be wider than tall and it's already huge at 204 stitches across and I DON'T WANT to knit the whole damn thing only to have it be all wrong and that is SERIOUSLY impeding my progress. So, should I rip it out and make fewer repeats? Block it very carefully? But, when my sister-in-law washes it, won't it go back to being short and squat? But then hard work is part of the gift, so shouldn't I suck it up and maybe buy another skein? But it's hand dyed so I'll have to alternate rows with the new skein which is a pain, but then I don't want to be lazy!!!! UGH!!!! Sorry, I know I'm yelling but I'm sad and frustrated. Plow-on or Rip-back...what to do? Please visit to vote early and often!!!!

Here it is so far...





...and yes, I did plan it so that my knit-bag matches my project why do you ask :)

knit@love

So, here's the deal. I hate "joiner" things...I don't like to play games, I loathe group trust enrichment seminar's (which I've had to do for work -- blech) and was the jerk in the back of the room that wouldn't close my eyes and envision peace and my perfect day...I just don't want to and I'll even engage in behavior that will force me to be unable to participate (for my pride and the protection of others, I won't elaborate). Still, the older I get the more I think that maybe it is a case of, "the lady doth protest a bit too much", or Aesop's Sour Grapes. Mainly because while I'm scoffing at these things in my head, I'm thinking about what everyone would be doing and there's usually laughter in those thoughts. So, I mean, if everyone is having fun, it can't be that bad right? Maybe that's why I like knitting so much. The fiber arts as a whole are something that you have to do yourself but by doing so, you've become a member of something whose brotherhood is immediately recognizable and bonding. Like, if I see someone knitting in public, I feel comfortable plopping down next to them and chatting with them about what they're doing, (after an ice breaking non-verbal show and tell i.e. I flash them my knitting :) confidant that I speak their language and will be instantly accepted as a member of the fiber community. So not what I would do if I saw someone reading an Edgar Allen Poe book or the latest copy of Educational Leadership. Anyway, it also may explain why, when Tina of BMFA fame, posted in the blog that she needed knitters to work on the blankets that are being knitted for the homeless, my fingers flew to respond in the affirmative so fast that I was afraid I had violated the time space continuum somehow (never mind that my email was returned to me as "banned user"!!! Who? Me? I've never even jaywalked! What!?!?!!!) I hadn't heard back and it had been awhile, so I assumed that I hadn't been fast enough and she had gotten as many knitters as she needed...when...I got this.

Y'all, I'm not ashamed to admit that just for a second I thought it was the sock club shipment and I peed my pants a little because the box was so big...

Also not ashamed to admit that just for a second I had to squelch the urge to take that box and run giggling maniacally to the back room and hide all...that...yarn!!!!

I resisted :)

Included was a lovely note, a pack of cards and a mascot.

So, in honor of my new quasi-joiner status, I want to chronicle the blanket project...can you guys help me think of a name?

three strikes...

As I have said before, I'm a perfectionist...so to alleviate some of my anxiety, I have created the 'rule of three'. One little bitty mistake is fine (especially if only the designer might notice)...

Two little mistakes are also passable since it's usually my thing that's getting done so I can smile and reassure myself that it has character...

However, three strikes and you. are. out.

I really wanted these socks to work out. I really did. This isn't even the first time I've frogged them...*sigh* Still, after reading suggestions from the designer (whose advice I will follow) I'm actually confident it will be the last. They are in time-out right now but I doubt it will be for long.

And so being the fickle little thing that I am, I immediately went to work on some fun socks and these are chugging along very nicely :)

*sigh* it's gone...

So, I've been working on this other thing. I guess it's safe to blog about since I'm finished.

It's a shrug for a bride...(never you mind that laundry it's clean)

A friend of my mother has a daughter who is getting married...

My mom recommended me and she accepted. It's my first commissioned piece...

I enjoyed the process, modifying the pattern for size and specifications. It was a bit like being a hair dresser; hoping that what I think she wanted is indeed what she wants...

In the end I was very pleased with how it turned out, and she's promised me pictures. It is a bit strange working so hard on something that I'll never see again and for that reason, I may not want to do this again. Another thing I wasn't counting on when I started this was that I would have so much trouble remaining momogamous to one project. I usually like to play around with different things, some of which get finished and some which don't...so it was really hard not to knit other things up--especially since I came home with all that delicious yarn from sock camp. Now, having finished, I immediately cast on two new things, aaaahhhhh....

Monkey Socks in Kaw Kaw (camp special colorway but you get it here)

And a Mobius scarf in Eggplanted from BMFA...

Also, on the list of really cool shtuff, my new-very-best-friend-from-sock-camp made me a present. You can buy some too if you go to her Etsy shop...

This one I ordered from her shop...

It's called 'frog pond' but this next one was made just for me :) I've turned it inside out (the outside is all like the pocket) so you can see all the features--inside pocket, 'key' ring, loop for hanging stuff on, row counter and carabeener features on the drawstring...

My. so. cool. MONKEY BAG!!!!