Summer Rain

I've enjoyed the rain this week & I don't care what anyone thinks - we needed that rain!! Now that everything has greened up again, the forest fire hazard has lowered, my jungle has exploded into growth & all the computers are turned on, we can go back to sunshine! It was actually nice being able to work at client sites with the computers ON this week - we literally had to shut 'em down at the worst of the heatwave because they were crashing. Not a good way for a contractor to make any money to support her fibre habit!!!

I've been knitting baby socks this week. They're almost more trouble than they're worth. I think I could've knit up a pair of men's socks in the time it took me to knit up 3 pairs of teeny, tiny foot covers. I got wind of the last call for infant socks to be sent to Afghanistan. They want newborn socks for a medical clinic - the newborns are sent home with warm socks & hats. They want them in natural fibres with heels - no booties. I guess they want them to stay on - I know booties are a pain & NEVER stay on. But - have you turned heels in newborn socks lately??? I knit the first two pairs up in handspun - I wanted something colorful but soft. Most of my handspun is a bit too bulky or not soft enough for baby socks, except for Arvik. And I don't want to send DARK GREY socks . . . So I decided to just use up the commercial sock yarn leftovers instead. I just finished some wild red/blue/green ones & love them. I'm using 28 stitches & a modified Queen Kahuna heel for them - I CANNOT imagine picking up stitches along a heel flap for these things!!!! OMG I've only turned the heel using three stitches on either side & then short-rowed the balance of the gusset but it's enough to make a defined heel. They are cute. And I hope to knit up a baker's dozen before August 15th when I need to get them in the mail to Elann.com It's an interesting way to use up some leftovers!!

I started to knit a sweater with Arvik. I've knit it up with TWO singles in a TOP-DOWN pattern called LEGAL LOOPHOLES by Medrith Glover. This is your standard Polo Shirt style sweater wit a twist - there are more increases to the front & back than to the sleeves. This means the sweater fits a larger size body without having extra bulk under the arms or having the armholes halfway to the waist in order to get a larger circumference. I thought I'd knit it up as a cardigan using her method since I just want something to throw over my shoulders to run out to the store when its chilly. I want it simple & I want it now. Good reason to knit a raglan top-down sweater!! I have enough Arvik to make several sweaters so I thought I'd just knit up some of it to see how it looks - I've been busy spinning Arvik for so long that I wasn't sure how much I actually had spun up but upon examination, I think I have enough for a couple of simple sweaters! And its so soft & lofty!! I think I love Arvik all over again . . . . .

July 11

It's been too hot to think. My lovely basement faces west, need I say more?? Two of my clients have had to shut down their office computers because it's too hot. I do have air conditioning in the Van but it takes time to cool down that big interior - so I generally don't even bother with it unless I'm going somewhere that takes longer than 10 minutes - so I've been spending time at any place with really good air conditioning. Yaaaaaaah - think they'd mind at Home Depot if I took in a box full of work, the calculator & my laptop??? Probably.

I finished the wild Opal socks. It's just too hot to model them!!!

July 13

What a difference a day makes! It's relatively overcast & you can actually breathe in my basement today. I started on the Sisu Fantasy socks Wednesday nite & I only have a few inches above the ribbing done but I love them already! Unfortunately, Fantasy is too heavy for short, summer socks . . . . but they'll sure be neat to wear in the fall. I'm just starting to increase for the gusset stitches but I really do like the colors - I believe this one is Jewel Tones. I can't remember for sure & the first thing I always do is lose the ball band! But, according to Lynne at KNITOPIA, the colors change so frequently that they've changed by the time you get back to buy more! S'okay with me - no one will have the same ones.

July 14

It's finally cool. The whole neighborhood is out watering, mowing, planting & moving. The kids didn't even come out to play for three days!! The BT should be moving today but he extended his stay till the end of the month due to the heatwave. I haven't felt much like spinning or knitting in the heat at all but I DO need new washcloths so I pawed thru the stash & found some kitchen cotton in pastels - oh what the heck, no one will see it 'cept me. I love the nubbyness of the garter square - just enough exfoliation to make you glow without taking off the surface of your hide. Who needs sugar or salt scrubs!!!

Purple Passion


The more I play with color, the more I love Purple! It didn't used to be that way. I preferred Red for most of my life; red with black, red with navy, red with anything actually!! I even owned Red platform shoes in the 70s!! I dyed my hair with Persian Red henna & used to dance the nite away in those shoes. I even sewed a red cover for the couch - it has purple monkeys on it!!!
But, now that I'm in my declining years(snicker), I've discovered that I prefer Purple. And, of course, Fuschia, Magenta or Hybiscus with my purple! So, I've spent the evenings lately, spinning up that delicious "Purple Passion" that I bought from Aurelia at Fibre Fest this year. It's a lovely merino/silk blend that I'm hoping to knit into a top-down shawlette to keep me snug when I'm reading in bed or sitting outside with a drink in the evening! I think I like this colorway even better than the Hybiscus(bright purply pink) merino I was spinning up before I found "Purple Passion".


And I've also been working on some Opal socks. You knew there had to be some sock content in this post somewhere, didn't you??? I bought 4 balls of Opal from a friend who was making room for other goodies. I knit up the yellow Opal for the BT's mom. The Red - similar to my Ladybug socks - is knit up & in the Gift Basket as long socks & a special sporty short sock. I decided the other two balls will be for ME! ME! ME!!! The Purple will be long socks for winter. And I'm in the process of knitting up the multicolored ball. I have to admit I was surprised at how this ball turned out - I'm not sure just what I expected but I didn't expect the wild, bright stripes that I got. Not sure how I feel about it but who knows, I'm sure they'll grow on me. And Louisa, this is a Queen Kahuna heel. It's very deep & cushioned on the back & under the heel - I used the K1S1 on the central heel area. It uses short rows to form the cup once the gusset stitches are made, similar to the old flap heel. And I don't have to pick up those darned gusset stitches!!!


And here's a closeup of that heel! It took me TWO pairs of socks to finally 'GET IT'. All those rubber band markers made me crazy till I stopped, figured out the architecture of the actual sock & the heel shape within it. Then I knit it again. BOING. The lightbulb came on. And I've never looked back.

The nice thing about this heel is that you can knit it from the toe up or the cuff down. It works the same way, no matter what your direction. I know I sound like an advertisement for the Queen's book but, I've tried a number of heels. I love Jan's heel for its very simplicity & her pattern is wonderful for beginners - we taught Kathy to knit socks using her pattern!! And, I've tried other short-row heels including the Afterthought heel but they don't fit well & the socks crawl into my shoes when I walk! I always went back to the Flap heel till I found this one. Now ALL my socks are knit with this heel. The BT with his high arch & skinny heels to my Ex with his flat feet & quadruple E width, both find this style comfy & well fitting. Who am I to argue with success???

Got My Recycled Sari Yarns


I can't believe how fast my eBay purchases came!! Got both of them in the mail on Friday! I really love the Rayon but am not too sure about the Silk which is much darker than I expected, almost a muddy brownish yarn with flashes of color. Mind you, it's also filthy & incredibly overspun! Even the photo came out too dark & muddy to publish . . . Hopefully after I unwind it a little & wash it, things will change for the better!!!
But, the rayon shines like a jewel, even in its overspun glory. This is a picture of the skein as it came out of the package.

I spent most of last evening & today unwinding it. I wound it into a centre-pull ball & then made a second ball of the yarn after letting it unwind. I then wound the relaxed yarn into a second centre-pull ball. I have to admit I tried to pull the fibres apart a little more in the first ball I unwound but I soon learned it wasn't a great idea. I'm not going to re-spin this - it will regain some twist as I knit it up - pulling it too thin caused the fibres to separate too much & I'm going to end up with too many knots!


I learned my lesson & the subsequent balls are much nicer, the yarn is not as ragged & I might just order more of this to make a bigger project! I love the colors. This yarn was a little darker in the overspun skein but when I let the yarn unwind, the colors really shone through. The yarn also softened up a great deal in the unwinding process. At this point, I guess I should re-skein the yarn & wash it - I wonder if the colors will run ???


So far, this has been a great amount of fun but unwinding all this yarn is also hard work. Pulling it all apart - my poor hands & fingers are sore & stiff!! - gives me great sympathy for the women who spun these threads into smooth, heavy yarn! It boggles the mind! I have to say, I think I'll stick to silk hankies & merino/silk blends in the future!!

Procrastination

Interesting word for not doing what you're supposed to be doing! Avoiding work! I have several days of data entry sitting in boxes, piled on my desk & leaning against the wall in my home office. I'm sick to death of it all. But, I have to pay the rent. And eat. etc. And walk my buddy's pooch. And I don't want to anything except curl up with a book & a bag of fruit. Time for a holiday. It's time for a Fibery Retreat!! How come there isn't one in the Lower Mainland???


In the meantime, I spent the day spinning with my Gal-Pal Gail on Saturday when the weather couldn't make up its mind. I managed to wind off a big, fat, fluffy skein of Arvik that was already spun AND spin up another big, fat one to go with it! I took this picture in bright light to show the contrast, the yarn is actually quite a bit darker in real life!!! The lateset fleece from my favorite sheep is delicious - so far it has less color change across th fleece - I may have to go back to last year's fleece to get the variation I want for my sweater. But, I couldn't resist starting on the NEW one. The skein on the right is last year's fleece - I'm hoping that this color is just because I started on one end! I think this year's fleece is actually softer too - but that may just be my imagination.


Kathy finished her socks!!!! She knits with teeny, tiny, absolutely perfect stitches that make these look like they came off a sock machine!! Whew . . . . I'm not sure who these ones are for but they're wonderful!! Now I know Kathy has several more balls of sock yarn tucked away in her basket, hopefully, she'll knit up the Opal yarn next!



Speaking of socks - I finished the Father's Day socks but didn't post a picture. Here they are on the left in all their "Manly" glory!! I even found a nice dark blue for the toes!!
And then I thought I'd knit up the remains of the yellow OPAL that I bought for the Mother's Day socks as short sport socks for the Sock Basket.



The Sock Basket is Gail's idea. She knits up a whole pile of socks & they go into The Basket. When an event comes up, like birthdays or Christmas, out comes the basket & the recipient gets to chose a pair or two. I liked the idea so much I decided to create one of my own. These are a few of the socks in my Sock Basket at the moment!!




This Opal intrigued me in the ball. I can't remember if I bought it or if I got it as a gift but, it kept calling to me so I had to knit it up just to see what the heck I'd get. I haven't decided yet just how I feel about it. I think I expected something different from the ball. Stripes just seem so ordinary somehow.

An Odor Problem

I was given a garbage bag of Acrylic yarn. The bag was stored in a garage after the yarn was stored in a box that got wet. I should've known better & put it out for the garbage men the day after I got it, but I'm the stubborn sort & I'm cheap. So, I tried to salvage it for our stash of "squares" fodder. I left some of it out in the weather in an onion bag, to blow in the wind. I left some of it in a lawn chair to soak up the rain & dry in the sun. And I left a big pile of it in an old laundry bag - made of netting - on the corner of my patio in the wind AND rain. I soaked a few skeins in vinegar & water & hung it to dry. So far, nothing has entirely removed the smell. I think I'm beat. Too bad, a whole garbage bag of yarn would've been a real bonus for the ever-growing collection of SQUARES!! My Wednesday Nite Nitting gang decided we need 48, 8" squares to make a child's afghan for a single bed. These will be donated to a local Transition House as they're completed.

While waiting for my recycled Rayon & Silk to arrive, I've been eye-balling Arvik again. I just received the 2007 clip & once again, it's gorgeous. It's clean, free of vm & smells good! And I just want to get spinning on it - maybe Saturday. I wish I were a shawl person, it would be soooooo easy to just give in & knit up a lacy shawl but, I'm not. Mind you, I did like the Goddess Eye shawl in one of the recent "INKnitters" magazines. It's knit from Equalateral Triangles - all sides are the same! I like the way it drapes over the shoulders without falling off & it fastens in the front with a button. The only problem is that I've spun Arvik up quite finely & knitting with too many strands would eliminate the color changes which make Arvik so special. Damn. I may just end up knitting a simple cardigan from the neck down with raglan sleeves!!! Hmmmm. Just got an idea . . . . . .

A Fool & her Money!


Well . . . one of my clients paid me with PayPal again this year!! I do love having PayPal money. It's kind of like having secret money all to yourself that no one else knows about. And it's been burning a hole in my pocket. I did want some books but I went to eBay instead. Big Mistake. Maybe. I accidentally bid on a skein of recycled Rayon instead of the Recycled Silk below it. I only bid a penny - I know, I'm sooooo cheap - didn't think I'd ever get it but BONG! It was mine. I ended up with 5 skeins of recycled, overspun Rayon. Oh well, I have to admit, the colors are gorgeous & I'm hoping it will all turn out to be okay. This stuff is apparently spun the same way as recycled Sari Silk so, I'm planning to release some of the twist, redraft it & re-spin it. I'm looking forward to getting this even if it did start out as a mistake!

And then I bid on the recycled Sari Silk - & ended up with 10 skeins or 2.2 lbs of it. Apparently, its coming all the way from the factory in Bangaledesh. I have plans for the silk. Remember that little sweater that was knit in rainbow colors ?? It's actually designed for recycled Sari Silk! One side is knit from the hem up to the shoulder & the other side is knit from the centre body out to the cuff of the sleeve.

I swatched & swatched, hemmed & hawwed & just couldn't get my head around using my Arvik for this sweater even though Arvik deserves a truly wonderful sweater pattern to show off her lovely colors. And I want a simple pattern too. I just haven't found the right one yet. Maybe Arvik will just become an ordinary, basic cardigan in a simple lace pattern or something light & airy in a Farose style shawl instead. But, in the meantime, I thought I'd try re-spinning some sari silk. I think I can afford to do a little experimenting. And, if it all goes to hell - well, I can always knit a wild sock-knitting bag!!

I rushed out this morning to do some paid work & noticed a whole pile of buds ready to pop on my second clematis. When I got home two hours later - this is what I found!!! The whole right hand trellis is full of big, fat, furry buds in this pink color. Last year, they were a very light purple but this year, they've become much pinker. I'm beginning to wonder what the third clematis will look like. It had tiny white flowers with a green stripe down the petals last year - rather pale & insipid to tell the truth but this one with the hot pink flowers was pale & inspid too. Mmmmmmmmm . . . . can't wait.

Another Wet Saturday


I haven't had a shower in three long days! On my way in the other day after work, I heard the sound of running water. My first thought was the toilet flapper'd got stuck open again but no, it was the hot water tank. Had to shut the water off. And I hadn't had time that morning for a full shampoo, just did the face, teeth & hands & ran out the door. CRAP. Now it's Saturday afternoon & they're finally disconnecting the rusted out hulk & replacing it. I suppose it was a mixed blessing. The nice man offered a $50 service job on the furnace while he was here & found the innerds needed adjusting & the thermocouple was almost toast! And you know when THAT baby would go - in the middle of the night in a raging snow storm on a long weekend . . . . . . !The cat has the right idea! Curl up in a blanket & sleep!!! I knit this Log Cabin style blanket out of all the odds & ends I had laying about including a few leftovers from Value Village & it's ilk. The cat spends more time curled up in it than I do. Sometimes I come home to find the back end of the cat sticking out of a great ball with the front end inside. And other times I just find a tail. This is a pic of her being cute & cuddly - it doesn't happen often.

Not much knitting going on around here although the Father's Day socks have one heel turned & the other in progress. I'm using the 'Sock it to Me' yarn from Elann for these which is much thinner than Regia or Opal but a lot nicer for summer socks. It does full a little when washed the first time but not to the extent that most yarns do. The pattern is similar to all of the Elann yarns I bought but is in brown/blue/black & white this time. I'm thinking about a dark blue or black toe since the pattern is so busy. Lucky for me, the BT's dad will wear any sock I knit - no matter what the color!! Now, there's a man who knows what side his socks are buttered . . . .


I fell in love with Sisu Fantasy after knitting up that Fantasy that Laura found for 99 cents in the thrift store. I went out looking for it & found this delicious combo at KNITOPIA, in White Rock. The colorway that Laura found is now discontinued - sob - but this one caught my fancy so I bought enough for a pair of socks for ME. This will be my next pair.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh . . . . . . so many socks & so little time!

It's Summer at Last


The BT's mom decided she didn't like Clematis last year after several years of growing them on the lattice outside the family room! She dug them up & gave them to me early last summer. I managed to get a nice show of flowers & then pruned them hard.


These are the first blooms of the summer!! The centre one was first & is the size of a bread & butter plate!! I have two more colors, one is a light purple & one is white with a light green centre. The white one will have to compete with the Scarlet Runner beans this year for trellis space.
A few years ago I bought one of those hanging half-shell baskets lined with coconut fibre. The only thing that has thrived in it are these rock garden Sedum(in the back) & the Hen & Chicks( in the front). The Hen & Chicks are doing so well that the local squirrel keeps digging them up & carrying them off!! I keep transplanting the babies elsewhere & now have Chicks bigger than the Hen they grew from. This basket hangs beside my front door. I broke down & bought three more Hen & Chicks varieties this year - I have plans to plant them all in an old Strawberry pot.


Not much knitting going on around here with all this lovely sunshine but I have been producing squares for the first afghans - we've decided to make a couple at a time. I bought two huge balls of bright blues to add to the mix. This one is more Turquoise than Teal & the other is a bright shade of Royal blue. But both will add a nice touch to the collection.


I found a couple of balls of Sisu Fantasy in colors I love down in Knitopia in White Rock last Thursday nite. I'd heard Knitopia opens its doors to knitters, spinners & hookers on Thursday evenings from 7 - 9, so I picked up Gail & Lynne(moved from Prince George to Cloverdale) & we headed down to knit for a couple of hours - we also wanted to look for some yarn!! As if we don't have enough . . . . Come one, come all!! Just bring a cushion for your fanny - those wooden chairs get damned hard!!!!

A Contest!!!


Well, here I am, shamelessly wooing a prize!! The link is http://www.skeinsherway.com/2007/05/pre-summer-contest.html & I want PURPLE fibre!!! Marlene of Wovenflame fame mentioned this contest in her blog so I'm gonna do the same!

My Summer Knitting Wishes

Oh, for a summer of lazy days
1. To finish spinning Arvik so I can knit a light summer sweater
2. To finally knit the Heartbeat sweater
3. To to get Ronn's afghan finished before he moves
4. To get a lace shawl knit this summer
All of that & to get some of the Fibre Fest Purple Passion spun up!!

I Don't Want to go to Work!


I want to stay home & plant things!! Managed to get the files yesterday - it was just an excuse to cruise in the new van!! On the way back, I stopped at the Port Kells Nursery & bought a whole bunch of bedding plants!! I bought Fuschias, Geraniums, Wave Petunias, Grasses & a whole bunch of little goodies to tuck into hanging baskets. I bought a 4 foot cedar box from a roadside craftsman a couple of weeks ago & decided to put it up on two big blocks at the end of my patio, against the back of the house in the shade. My little table is on the other side & all the shade-loving house plants go outside under the table for the summer. The back wall where the box sits will get sunshine only after 4 in the afternoon so it should be nice for fuschias. I bought every color the nursery had!! And I planted geraniums behind them. The petunias will go into two hanging baskets which will be macramed into a nice long double hanger in the next day or so . . . . I still have macrame cord left over from the early 70s when I was a store rep for Brownfinger who wholesaled craft items to all the big department stores. Woodwards, Sears & Eaton's were my baliwick. I counted all the bags of goodies, wrote up orders & showed all the new stuff to the Managers. The highlight of my career with Brownfinger was a craft fair in the new Eaton's store downtown where I macramed a hanging boudoir table over two days while showing off my company's line of products. Had a ball. Still have beads, books & cord left from those days . . . . . . .

The grasses will fill a bin where my potato vines survived for 5 years till that last cold snap after the rain killed them off. The kitty on the post in the bin looks lonely without its greenery so I'll give kitty some grasses to hide in. I bought some red fountain grass, some tall grass that grows up to 6" with cascading plumey heads & two kinds of twisted corkscrew grasses - actually reeds that should make the basket quite interesting by summer. I want a tub of red or black bamboo too - I love the look & need a sun screen on the south side of my patio. And then I want another Papasan chair to lounge in outside this summer . . . . .

And just a little surprise from Gail who found a tiny nest in her flowering bush next to the house!

Another Cold Wet Day on the Coast

I had intended to work this weekend & leave the roads to all the folks who like to spend time in traffic jams or line-ups on holidays such as this. I started out with good intentions but the best laid plans & all that . . . . I traded my little white car for the Safari van yesterday after the mechanic finished up fixing all the bits & pieces that needed doing. So nice to cruise home in comfort after driving a noisy, fume belching, beater!!! It made the day better after beating my brains out trying to get into an accounting package on a computer with only about 5% memory left to run the thing. No go. Tried to email the saved files to my home computer - files corrupted! Couldn't save the files to disk - too big! Can't back them up - program won't open!! Grrrrr. At least I got the van! Figured I'd go back & rip the files out of that damned computer on Sunday - I have several more tricks up my sleeve!! Just couldn't get it in gear. I don't want to go out in the rain. The cat wouldn't even go outside, she curled up in my log cabin afghan instead & purred. Ya think she knows something I don't???


I finished the Opal 'Ladybugish' socks. The color is very similar to my other 'Ladybug' socks but the black/white patterned area in this colorway is even & regular, unlike that of the Rainforest 'Ladybug' colorway - but I love them anyway! I'm thinking I may just combine the leftovers from the two pairs & knit a pair of 'Ladybug' Frankensocks with red toes for the winter to come. Yes Virginia, that's the Queen's heel again.

I promptly started the new 'Father's Day' socks for the BoyToy's dad. Hey, I'm giving myself more than the three days I gave myself for the Mother's Day ones!! I'm knitting these ones up on my bamboo skewer needles so they're just a little looser. The Bamboos work out to a 2.5mm size while my usual ones are 2mm. These are for a Diabetic with ankles that swell so I want to make sure he has NO binding at the ankle at all.

And I made four more squares for the charity blankets this week in the fun color I found in the stash. I have one more big ball of it left in the bag & two HUGE balls of different shades of blue - bought in the bargain bin at Walmart!! Both of the blue balls match one of the colors in the square. I think the next blanket will be a Log Cabin blanket, with each square knit on top of the one before, so we don't have to sew anything together! I'm trying very hard to knit one square per day while watching tv before I go onto any other project so I get a big supply of them. My sock knitting buddies are also knitting squares so, that with any luck, we'll have a couple of blankets ready to donate by the end of the summer!! They'll go to a local Transition House.

Everybody's doin' it


So I went to the Fibre Fest along with everyone else that's writing a blog 'cept for poor Ev, stuck in the Okanagan. I see everyone's bragging about what they snagged, so I thought I might as well join in too. I was pleasantly surprised to be able to park close to the door on Saturday - considering I was hauling a granny cart, knitting bag, six pack of flavored cold water & my Mud Valley clone.(spinner) I had saved up my Toonies for months so I could buy whatever my little heart desired!! Its my secret stash - I save all my Toonies in a can & then whenever a fiber event or trip happens, it's like FREE money!!

And, I came with some definite purchases in mind. I wanted more silk hankies.
I wanted Hibiscus merino.

I wanted to take another look at the Triangle loom I saw last year. Well, I got the silk hankies - 3 bags full!!! at Twist of Fate. I got the Hibiscus Merino - 2 big bags at Aurelia!!! And I was seduced by the Purple Passion - merino & silk blend(top pic) - also at Aurelia. And I found my favorite but elusive dyes in Magenta(menopause purple) & Cyan(Flaming Turquoise) in a kit called Mother
MacKenzie's dye kit. BONUS!!


Yes, I DID go see the Triangle Loom & watch a demo of the same technique in a little Lap Loom. I'm now mulling over what I should do - get the Lap Loom which would be ever so portable but I have to put all those squares together, get the 4' Triangle Loom which would let me do it faster but its not adjustable or hold out for the big adjustable 7' Triangle Loom which will fold down to 4' . Decisions, decisions . . . one thing I do know, I love the technique & am NOT interested in any loom that takes days to warp!! I did get cards though, so when I DO make up my mind, I can get what I want.


Didn't do ANY spinning at Fibre Fest although I dragged along the spinner. My thumbs were just too darned sore - OMG, is this a warning of things to come???? Hope not. I did finish the Mother's Day socks. She has her black outfits, her blue outfits, her pink & her brown outfits. I figure she can wear these with at least two of them!! This is Opal which looked rather interesting in the ball. The BT's mom likes short socks so I can usually get two pairs out of a 100gm ball if I put on solid or contrasting toes. I'm not particularly fond of this color or pattern so I knit the whole pair out of Opal. I have enough left to turn the heels on another pair & some Kroy in the same shade of dark yellow to finish the foot if she likes the color. I suspect she will since she'll take anything I knit . . .


And, last but not least, I'm in the process of finishing up the sort of 'ladybug' socks for me. The heels are turned on both socks so there's just the mindless foot knitting left! I like the color even though they aren't nearly as interesting as the Rainforest 'Ladybug' socks with their random thick & thin strips. They are still fun & very reminiscent of the 'Ladybugs' - this may've been the test pattern, who knows. I do have some of both yarns left so I may knit a couple of patchwork 'Frankensocks' of the two just for fun!! And I think I even have some extra red for the toes too . . . . .

I should be working


Found my Opal socks! this was an accidental discovery because I was actually looking for something else at the time. In my house, any horizontal surface is fair game for books, fibre, project boxes, etc - I was so glad to go spinning at Karen's house yesterday because, apparently, we both have the same decorator!!!
But, as I said, I found my Opal socks. The pattern is very reminiscent of the "Ladybug" pattern from the first 'Rainforest' collection. I guess that's why I pounced on that particular ball. I pounced on a purple ball of Opal too - it's similar to the red one so it may knit up the same but, who knows??? Every sock is an adventure!


Ginny Revisited - I AM determined to get rid of my ratty old Fuschia sweater ASAP. It's really looking baaaaaad but , dammit, it's just so cozy. I love the way it wraps around me in its stretched out, tatty, bodiless way & if it weren't for all the catches, pills & pulls - well, I'd wear it for another year!!! But, Gail is disgusted with me & The Boytoy has threatened to burn it - soooo, I've dug out the multi-toned, purple, Ginny's Sweater by Medrith Glover. I've finished one sleeve, am working down the second & have the body knit almost to the hip. Since this dips to a point in the front & back, I have to fill in the triangular sections from upper hip to the front & back hems & then figure out what kind of finish to use for the front opening & neck edge. I haven't done any I-cord yet so this may be the place to learn. But, maybe, I'll just crochet the edge in single crochet so I can wear it that much sooner . . . . . . And I'll make a shawl to wrap around me when I need something to snuggle in at home. I'm still spinning on my Arvik fleece but I'm also thinking about starting to knit the sweater as well. Arvik deserves something simple & plain to show off the color & texture - hey, this will be my first handspun sweater!!!


Laura sucked me into knitting yet another pair of socks. She found a ball of Sisu Fantasy in a thrift store for 99 cents! The colors were so fantastic that I just wanted to knit it up immediately - so I did. I just love the colors & had to make the toes in this hot pink Sisu that I bought for toes. The toe color is not quite as thick as the other yarn but I think its a perfect match for color so nothing else would do!! Laura is going to have to learn how to knit if she wants any more socks!!! The next pair is going to the BT's mom for Mother's Day!

And the Beat goes on . . .


Well, the tax season is almost over for another year! I say ALMOST because now I have all my self-employed - including Moi - to do. But, these are the real fun part of all this. No, folks, I am NOT smoking funny tobacco. Small business tax is an adventure. It's my favorite because I like a challenge.

Speaking of challenges, I'm back working on my Heartbeat sweater from Just One More Row, again. I & the rest of the Knit-Along gang at Ample Knitters discovered to our dismay that this sweater is lovely when knit in a small or medium size but not so lovely when sized up to a much larger size. The sweater can be expanded to any size but the neck & shoulders expand along with it. So?? What's the problem you say?? Well, I don't know about you but I don't want a V-neck to my belly button! I want that part of my anatomy COVERED, thank you!
So, some of us have come up with variations which we hope will salvage the sweater. One gal put so many extra rows of stitching into the neck opening that it now looks like a small yoke. But, it closes it up so she can wear it. I decided to make a smaller sweater resulting in a smaller neck opening & make it larger by increasing the garter panels at each side before picking up the sleeve stitches. Someone else has decided to limit the increases on either side of the neck opening to every fourth row instead of every second. Hopefully we ALL get wearable sweaters!

And I've finished the two pairs of socks for Laura. I used one 100 gm ball of Opal & half a ball of blue & green for the toes.

I started MY Opal socks - the red & white yarn with a little black that looks a lot like the yarn for my Ladybug socks. But, I can't find the bag I put them into . . . !! I'm blaming it on menopause!

I'm sooooo busy!!


This is why I don't have time to post & no crafty things are in progress that weren't in progress before all this happened . . . .

Yeah yeah yeah . . .

I know, I know - two posts so close together!! My Gawd . . . & it's tax season too! But, but, but . . . Laura's first pair of socks are done & I had to post them for All the World to See! Well, at least for the 5 people who actually check in to see what I'm up to, anyway!
In the end, I chose to go with the green for the toes. The yellow was too orangey to work with the lemon shades of the sock. The blue works nicely but I'll need it for the second pair of socks since I'll have less of the Opal & I'll need more toe color. The Opal actually looks different with the blue so I may just post the pictures together when I'm finished - just for fun!

I couldn't stand it anymore. I just had to know what kind of pattern my new red, white & black Opal would make so I thought I'd just cast a little on, knit a few rows & see what I got. Looks suspiciously like the "Ladybug" I bought last year! Could it be??? I dug out my "Ladybug" socks & it sure looks the same except the stripes are narrower & closer together at this point. I'll just have to knit a little more to make sure, I guess . . . .

Oh, and I just signed up for the "Vitamins" course at Virtual University. I've already learn some things I didn't know & I'm only reading the introduction to the course. You can learn a lot at the Virtual U!