Tequila Tuesday

Well, rum really! These are my Yarn Pirate Booty Club Rum Runner Socks. The colorway is Rum Runner and is exclusive to the Booty Club.

I love love love these socks. I am not a big fan of St st socks usually, but I cast these on toe up and they went FAST!!! Short row heel looks awesome in the stripes and I added 8 rows of 2x2 rib at the top (I am not going to tell you the big boo boo I JUST noticed on these and I finished them on Saturday...OOPS!).

The sock blockers came to me by way of Cristi. Look for more from her soon.

Handspun Monday: The Tour Ends

It is the end of the Tour de France. That means the end of the Tour de Fleece, too. Wow. What a great few weeks of spinning. I have noticed such a difference in my spinning over the last few weeks as I have been spinning every day.

Here we have some CJ Kopeck Creations in Jester. This was gifted to me in a secret pal exchange that ends this month, so I really wanted to spin it, but when I tried at the beginning of the tour, I was really having some issues with it. It was finer than I was used to, but this bobbin is half of the roving I have and I started the other half already. I am hoping that when all is said and done I will have a decent amount of yardage so I can knit something cool with it!!!

Tomorrow - we have another FO!!

FO Friday...you thought this day would never come!

Wednesday I mentioned that I had done both more and less knitting than expected.
Yesterday I said there was a FO for today.
You thought this day would never come! To be honest - so did I!

I am pleased to bring you Danielle's Pinwheel Sweater!!
In that pic you can see a mistake. oops! I will never mention it again!

Danielle has promised action shots and when I get them I will put them up. I am thinking this will go out next week with some other little gifts I have for her!

Also making its blog debut is MY pinwheel. You can see the difference, yet sameness in our color tastes.

Here they link arms and love each other before "Pink" is off to sunny California!

The Specs:
Pattern: Pinwheel Sweater (adult size)
Yarn: Mine: Cascade 220, Danielle's: Cascade 220 (red and gray) and elann.com Highland peruvian wool
Modifications: Well, there is no edge on mine (not sure there ever will be). Other than that, done as directed.

Great minds and such...

I had been planning to blog about the Charlotte Yarn Swap and Sell from this Saturday all week and decided that today was the day. Imagine my surprise when reading bloglines and Cristi beat me to it!! Well, I am doing it anyway because while I have a FO to share, I don't have the pics loaded yet because this was the planned post for the day.
Because she beat me to it, right there is Cristi selling her yarn! What she didn't sell, she donated to charity!
And here is Autumn buying some of Cristi's yarn. I met her tonight for a little knitting fun and tea talk and she is already knitting up what she bought this weekend into a cute wrap to wear to her brothers wedding in 2 weeks. Or maybe she is buying Heather's yarn here. Not sure. But she was buying yarn!

But where is my table? Well, I have to be honest - I didn't take any yarn to swap or sell. Instead I took a large trash bag and 2 grocery bags full of yarn to donate to charity and let them go to better use. I took 3 passes through my stash and a real look at what I would really have time to knit before I die. I have a lot of yarn.

Oh - I mentioned a FO. Guess you will have to wait until tomorrow to see that.

WIP Wednesday - both more and less than expected

With the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7) on Friday, a second trip to the eye doctor for a "dislodged" contact lens AND about 4 million other things, I got both more and less knitting done than I planned.

First, I got less done on the Mystery Stole then I planned. This is the end of Clue 2 which I finished up on Friday afternoon. Then I headed over to Cristi's and worked to about halfway through Clue 3. The lower pink lifeline is the end of Clue 2 - so I made some progress, just not as much as I would have liked. Especially since I haven't touched it since.

I headed to the Harry Potter release over at Borders and took my Elizabeth Bennett Cabled Cardigan with me. It has grown quite a bit in the last week...it was barely more than a collar last week and now it is almost ready to have the sleeves become their own little projects. I think I will be altering this pattern and knitting the sleeves in the round. Sadly, though, the Cardigan got too heavy to carry in my purse and I struggled with it at Harry Potter when I was standing in line. While I was sitting in the comfy chair, it was no big deal, but in line it was a pain. Never fear, my Yarn Pirate Yarn in Rum Runner (month one of the Yarn Pirate Booty Club) had arrived and it was talking to me. So, it was Cast On Saturday and I took it with me to Charlotte Yarn (more on why tomorrow). Sock one is done, sock 2 is on it's way. I apparently have the honor of having the first completed Rum Runner sock according to the Ravelry and Flickr groups (if there is another - I would LOVE to see it!!!) This yarn absolutely spoke to me and made me knit it. No really, it did. It talked to me all day Friday and I had to work with it. Look at how pretty that short row heel is!!! *squees*

I don't just dream of socks!

I admit it. I dream about knitting all the time. ALL THE TIME. And the sock nightmare is not the only one I have had about knitting. I have another one for you. Just as recent. And this one I blame on The Panopticon! His recent lace knitting has had me really thinking about some future projects. And he had a mean lace nightmare that I think triggered this one.

I was in a house and there was a young child. This young child was beautiful. And not mine. In this child's possession was a small aquarium with 6 beautiful goldfish. They were actually the multicolored ones. They looked like goldfish, but were purples, blues and black. They were talented fish as well in that they would leap to the surface for their food. I should note that I somehow managed to kill 2 of these fish. Or I thought I had, but they were apparently sleeping. (The inside of my head is a strange place)

This child also had 2 beautiful handknit items. One was a small blanket that someone must have knit for her with love. The other was a lace shawl of some sort. It was large and square. Not really something you would gift to a child for every day use. She also had a small black suitcase full of beautiful little girl clothes. Dresses and shoes. Tops and skirts. She was a girlie girl and adorable.

Yet, this child was of an age that she was fully potty trained and fully aware of pretty much everything. She was precious and precocious. Then I went into the bathroom and realized the had used it. Fine. And tried to flush. Fine. But her beautiful white lace was in the toilet. Fine. It can be cleaned. I go to retrieve the lovely lace, but as I reach the toilet she comes forward and flushes the toilet again. I grab for the lace and struggle to keep it from swirling into the depths. Being destroyed. I paniced. I pulled. This lace was seriously probably the strongest handknit I have EVER encountered for it to have taken all this abuse.

I notice that it is bulky and that her blanket is wrapped in the center of the lace. Apparently this child is evil to the core and trying to destroy all the pretty knitting. (See this is how I know she isn't mine! Mine will be evil, but they will grow up with a respect for knitting. Some people teach their children respect for things like alcohol, guns, the really expensive figurine things - mine will learn knitting respect in the womb!)

I eventually managed to rescue the knitting and there was no damage, but it was stressful and I think I woke up sweating and swearing. I am sure there is some deeper meaning to my dream, but I don't want to even begin to analyze it. All I know is that I am glad there are no evil children destroying knitting in my immediate area.

To help combat the trauma of this telling, here is a picture of my sweet boy, Rozz with Knithulhu. He is, of course, not impressed as he is not allowed to touch the knitting so he just ignores it in favor of sitting in mommy's lap and snuggling.

Isn't he a handsome boy?

Pretty in Purple - Handspun Monday

Oh hell, I am running late this Monday - so let's get this going. I had pics all ready and I just slipped actually posting them. WOOHOO!

Last week I promised that I would be working on Love Bones 3 from Poppy Flower Fibers.

This is bobbin one of this lovely domestic wool top. Approx. 2 oz. per bobbin.And Bobbin #2. Plying will happen this weekend.

Now, this is not next, but since we are talking about Poppy Flower Fiber roving - well I wanted to show off my Luxury Fiber Club haul for July. It is 100% Merino and I am in love.

She has a couple spots left open if you want in for the next 2 months at a reduced price. $34!!!! And that includes shipping. And you will still get a month of BFL cause she hasn't done that one yet and it is guaranteed to happen! You can email her if you want in.

Today I started spinning some beautiful roving from my secret pal and I will be posting that next week in time for our big reveal!!!!

A Knitter's Nightmare

Several nights ago I was asleep (it could have been an afternoon nap, who can remember at this point, really?) and had the following dream. No, it was a nightmare.

Cristi and I were hanging out - as we often do - knitting and talking about life in general and knitting, but I am not sure where we were. The space was smallish, but comfortable. Not at all cramped. A nice place to knit, but it was not my place or her's. Not Panera. I was wearing my Embossed Leaves socks from IK (hell if I remember what issue at the moment - they are in Favorite Socks). These socks are done in a pink self striping Trekking and I love the color. Of course, I love pink, so what is not to love about these socks.

So, we are talking about knitting and the subject of socks came up. We were discussing toe up vs. cuff down and extolling the virtues of the toe up sock. I am currently in love with toe up and short row heels (the short row heel fits my stupidly shaped foot better IMO!). The embossed leaves are neither toe up or short row heeled. But the Embossed Leaves sock is currently Cristi's favorite sock to knit and I think she has 3 pairs done. So discussing them is not something we don't do. In fact it is something we discussed AFTER I had this dream - though I didn't tell her about it at the time.

As we discuss the sock, I take my foot out of my shoe to show the full sock. Now, I love shoes. Socks are a necessity for 1) shoe comfort and 2) foot warmth. I knit them because I love to knit but I would be happy with store bought socks really. I mentioned that stupidly shapped foot? Well, gusset heels are baggy on my foot and no matter what I do, they remain so. I have shortened them and everything, but I just love to knit. So I knit myself pretty socks. Before I started knitting socks, I must say that I did have a giant love of "different" socks anyway. Every pair of "work socks" I own are weird. I have argyle knee highs and pinstripped and all sorts of different socks. I haven't had much occassion for wearing my hand knit socks to work as I tend to knit bright pink socks - but whatever.

Out my foot comes from my shoe - which shoe I can't remember even though I have the PERFECT pair of show off your hand knit socks shoes - I am pretty sure it wasn't those shoes. To my absolute horror there is a hole in the toe of my sock. A HOLE! and not because I have worn it out, but because the entire kitchener stitch graft has come apart. THE WHOLE THING!

Well, let me tell you that my dream-self gasped. Looked horrified that my toes wer hanging out for a moment and not freshly pedicured. Then realized that these were MY HAND KNIT SOCKS! and the toe has FAILED! The look of horror turned to shame. Shame that I was such a poor knitter that my grafted toe didn't stay grafted. In my dream, Cristi and other knitter's who are a blur (because we were not alone) mocked my inability to kitchener stitch properly. I think I vowed to never ever ever knit anything other than toe up again.

I woke up in a cold sweat. I got up immediately and checked my socks to make sure there were no holes in the toes (they don't).

And that is why my Embossed Leaves socks are now sitting in my living room under the coffee table and not in the sock drawer. They are being watched carefully for signs of failure.

Episode 10 - the 4 things I love

What are the 4 things I really love???

FO:
Tomato - from No Sheep for You: Knit Happy with Cotton, Silk, Linen, Hemp, Bamboo & Other Delights
Lacey Lamb - its blocked and done FINALLY!!!

Spinning:
Gothic Ladies
Tour de Fleece update

WIPS
Mystery Stole
Pinwheel
Mariposa
Elizabeth Bennett Cabled Cardie from Fitted Knits: 25 Designs for the Fashionable Knitter
Bellocq Stockings (which I mentioned and I haven't touched in over a month)
Rum Runner Socks

Yarn:
Yarn Pirate Booy Club - Rum Runner!!!!
Luxury Fiber Club from Poppy Flower Fibers
The Loopy Ewe - Fleece Artist in Lily Pond and Pale Pink and Spritely Goods in Fairy Duster II.
10 skeins of Cascase Sierra
4 skeins of Classic Elite Sand
4 balls of Patons Katrina

Book Reviews (there are 2 because I just bought a lot of books!!!)




Crafting for a Cause
Square Contest Winner - treehugger with 120!!! Congrats! We collected enough squares this month to put together 8 full blankets and a couple squares short of a 9th!!! Thank you to all who participated!
1759 items donated this year so far
Warm Up Winchester

Tomato Thursday!!!

Yesterday I mentioned something was missing from WIP Wednesday. Today I would like to introduce you to my newest top! Tomato!!
As you can see - I made a few modifications. I will detail those below. This was a fast and fun knit! I am SO pleased with the way this top turned out! I LOVE LOVE LOVE the colors!
I had a little trouble with herringbone pattern at first and I ripped that sucker out...I was almost through with the colorwork section. I kept looking at it like there was something wrong and hoping that it would magically come together. It didn't. So I ripped back with a little help from Cristi (who kindly would the yarn for me as I frogged with wild abandon!!!) and came up with this pretty pink and black perfection on the next go.

Now, the edging detail is probably my FAVORITE part of this project. Here is one of the sleeves, but more on that down in the details.

Details:
Pattern: Tomato from No Sheep for You: Knit Happy with Cotton, Silk, Linen, Hemp, Bamboo & Other Delights

Size: 40"
Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton Ease in Stone (3 balls) and Berry (1 Ball)

Needles: US 7 for body and 6 for Ribbing
Started: July 3
Finished: July 15
Mods: Where to start. I guess with the first one...

1. I some how ended up with the perfect number of stitches on the front and sleeves, but an extra 6 across the back. I don't know, I am special that way. I didn't realize it until I had already knit the first round of the houndstooth pattern. So, I ripped back to the stone row before it and adding back shaping. Yes folks, back shaping. I decreased 6 stitches evenly across the back mirroring the decreases 3 right leaning, 3 left.

2. I can't read. So I knit the pattern repeat 3 MORE times instead of 3 times total. I actually really like the even number of pattern repeats, so I left it.

3. I decided I wanted to have the pink in more than just the bust area, so I added 2 pink stripes in the ribbing. To do this, I knit 4 rounds in MC 2x2 rib. Then I knit one round in pink (knit all the way around no purls). Then I knit in MC in rib patter for one row. Knit 1 row in CC in pattern. Knit 4 rows in MC in pattern.

4. The pattern only calls for 4 rows of ribbing on the sleeves. Well, that wouldn't work for adding the pink to the ribbing, so instead of 4 rows of ribbing, there are 11. This is the same number of rows as are in the collar and the bottom ribbing. I had to add a row to the collar too, I think.

Even with the serious startitis I had, I managed to finish this in 12 days. And that includes the blocked and all. This was a fast easy knit. A GREAT knit for a first garment and if the fair isle scares you, just make it in one color. Lots of people are doing it.

A few thoughts on color. I am a pink girl. I thought about knitting this in pink with stone as the CC. BUT I think one of the things that makes this such a great top is the pop in color. The Stone color is very mellow and pretty, the Berry really pops against it and it is just beautiful. Pics don't do it justice.

WIP Wednesday - A Case of Startitis!

First up this week we have the Mystery Stole 3. Yes, I am a silly silly knitter knitting black lace weight while sitting on a black couch and usually wearing black pants or a black skirt.

See that pink line there? It is the end of Clue 1. I am now 14 rows into Clue 2 and that was all today. I have been having some issues with the left eye and so knitting lace has been harder than usual - I had planned to work on this all day Sunday. Yeah. Notice how while pretty it looks a bit muddled in the middle near my pinkie finger down there? Here's to blocking!!!! KaidydidKnits and Cristi have great pics of their Mystery Stoles up too. Lets see, what do we have next? It isn't the Pinwheel because it still looks like it did last week. I know I know, I should have worked on it. But instead I cast on the Elizbeth Bennett Cardigan from Fitted Knits: 25 Designs for the Fashionable Knitter. I have mentioned my great love of this book before and right after I got it I found Cascade Cloud 9 (50/50 Angora/Merino - what the pattern calls for) at almost 50% off. So I bought the yarn and it has been sitting in my stash.

Look at the collar. I really love the seed stitch followed with that peral ridge. This is echoed later in the pattern as well. Hmmmm...something seems to be missing. I wonder what it could be. I guess you will have to wait until tomorrow to find out!

*swoons*

Interweave Press has added more books to the Hurt Book Sale. So in addition to the damage I did last week I just picked up several titles I REALLY wanted but were already unavailable last week when I ordered.

*dances about*
*tries to wait patiently for the 3 weeks they take to process the orders*
*cries*

And yes, this does mean more things to review in the podcast. Oh - of course I have bought another new book since the last podcast so I may have to review 2 because I love them both, but I said I was doing Favorite Socks: 25 Timeless Designs from Interweave. But I have The Knitters Book of Finishing Techniques now too. And 10 more books coming.

A Lacey Lamb A Blocking!

This weekend I blocked the Jade Sapphire Lacey Lamb. Now, before it looked like this:

The thing was as long as it was wide. No, really. It was just barely a rectangle. By like an inch. I was sad, I was frustrated. I wanted to cry. But I know lace grows. And I know it always looks like cat yak until you block it.

So, I blocked it.

Wow! What a difference. Here are the details.

Pattern: Lacey Lamb Scarf by Jade Sapphire (let me say here that this is pictured as a wide item more like a shawl than a scarf, hence why I have been referring to it as a Shawl instead.)

Yarn: 1 Ball Jade Sapphire Exotic Fibers Lacey Lamb (approx. 825 yards) in green. Used doubled.

Needle: Denise size 9.

Modifications: The pattern calls for 72 repeats of the 4 row pattern. I was only able to complete 43 with the yarn I had. They probably used a smaller needle for this. Lace is subjective really. You have to figure out how dense you want your fabric. I tend to like to knit lace weight yarn into lace on a size 4, but with this doubled, I went up to a 9 and I am very happy with the outcome of this lace.

Finished size: 39" x 13" (ummm...another 30 pattern repeats and this would have almost doubled in size) - I think the size is great!!

This is a SUPER EASY lace pattern. Very easy to memorize and keep going. And I have to say that I really like it. The yarn is honestly a DREAM to work with. It is super soft and beautiful. If you would like to purchase the pattern or the yarn, contact Charlotte Yarn. Remi will be happy to help you get this started.

Handspun Monday - The Math Edition

Remeber WAAAAY back to high school when they said you would use algebra again in life? Well, here is my chance!!!

Lets solve for this equation: x+2y=xy+y

x = Gothic Queen

y = Gothic Princess

sooooo....x+y = The Gothic Ladies colorway. This is a mostly worsted (to bulky) weight 2 ply yarn. Approx 150 yards from 4 oz of Gothic Queen and 4 oz of Gothic Princess.

This is a mostly worsted (to bulky) weight 2 ply yarn. Approx 150 yards from 4 oz of Gothic Queen and 4 oz of Gothic Princess.

But wait...there was a 2y in that equation. You are right to have noticed. I also got about 20 yards of Gothic Princess plyed with itself to make a slightly lighter 2 ply.
So - Gothic Queen + Gothic Princess = Gothic Ladies + Gothic Princess!!!

Stacey asked: What is up with the coins?Why do I see those on folks spinning bobbins??

Well, Stacey, that is a fantastic question and it took me awhile to understand it myself. The reason for the coins is to show scale in your spinning. So you can see the weight of the fiber against something that you can pull out and look at yourself and know about what that single on the bobbin is in relation to it. Make sense??

I can really tell a difference in my spinning after only a week of the Tour de Fleece!!! I am so excited that I decided to take this challenge. Next week I will be showing off this pretty pretty roving from Poppy Flower Fibers!

Tomorrow I have a FO for you...you will have to tune in to see what I made and what modifications happened along the way.

Oh wow! Thank you for your kindness!!!

Yesterday I spent most of my day at the yarn shop. It was nice. After, I went to Qdoba for dinner. In that shopping complex there is a shop, Jewelology, where you can make your own jewelry. When I was looking for beads, the mean bead lady never mentioned this shop as one I could go to. Of course they don't carry size 8 seed beads either, but she would have ORDERED them for me.

OMG! REALLY! *SQUEES*

I came in and was greeted right away. (Good sign). The owner, Jennifer, came over and then asked me if she could help me find something. I was looking for toggles and she pointed me to them (because I asked her to "Please point me in the direction of toggles") and I thanked her. She checked on me a couple more times and when I was ready I recounted to her my other bead store experience. She immediately knew which shop I was speaking of, but NEVER said the name. She was all class. Sweet, adorable and I love her shop!!!! In fact, I think I am going to take a class in how to make a necklace just because I like to support local people and while I don't NEED another addiction, I would love to support her shop!

So - here is the info on her shop if you are in the Charlotte area or ever find yourself here. Or want to email her to see if she can get something for you and will ship.

Jewelology
Park Town Village
1630 Woodlawn Rd
Charlotte NC 28209
704-525-8272

And if you are in the area and want to join me for a class, let me know!!!!!

Smiles and happiness through knitting in public

Harry Potter night usurped our normal Friday Night Mystery Stole night, but it was worth it. SO WORTH IT. Because I worked on Tomato in the theater. Tomato now has 2 sleeves and all the tails are woven in. That means the neckline is next. Wow - this has been a fast knit. I can't wait to share it with you all!

That isn't the point of this post. The point is that Cristi and I talked to the guy and girl behind us about knitting. They started it even. YAY! I also talked to someone about teaching her knitting soon (more on that later). And I will be planning and (maybe) teaching an Intro to Lace class in September. Depends on which state I am living in then. Oh - and Dave (the new GUY we have in our Panera Knitting Group - HI DAVE! *hugs*) stopped by the shop today and we got him all patched up on his stockinette stitch, he was a happy happy knitter and left with a copy of Stitch 'N Bitch: The Knitter's Handbook which I highly recommend to new knitters and old alike. It is a great reference and it is the book I taught myself to knit from.

Anyway - spreading the joy and happiness of knitting throughout the world and doing it with smiles and happiness. That is the point of this post.

Oh - and Dave said he listened to my podcast and he was so proud. He wants to talk me into a vidoe podcast. hmmmm...twist my arm, Dave, twist my arm.

And there goes tonights plans

I should be knitting the Mystery Stole, but my hands hurt, so no. A bit fiddly.

I should be knitting Tomatoe, but my hands hurt, so no. Cotton. not so easy on the hands.

At 30, I should not have such bad arthritis. I am tired of it. I want it to go away. There are days when I can barely move them. Typing hurts, but that isn't as fiddly or difficult. I am back on the lupus meds already, we shall see if I need to go on the super nasty ones or not (we hope not - oh please no!)

I just want to knit and spin. I think I am just going to go to bed. I did just wake up from a 3 hour nap of happiness. It was a stressful day today. The kitties went to the vet. They hate me now, but they will get over it.

WIPs strike again!!!!

Yeah - I had a bit of startitis last week. If you were watching my sidebar closely you noticed this ... it's a bird, it's a plane, its a TOMATO!!! I will post all the pattern modifications I am making once I finish. There are several. Some are more creative than others. So, I cast it on last Tuesday night and have plowed right through it - much to the sadness of my 300 other WIPs, like the Pinwheel.
The pinwheel now has 1 1/2 sleeves. The end is near and Danielle will send us pics of her wearing it. Yes, in the summer. Because while it is 100,000 degrees in California right now, my sweet D is still cold.

Speaking of it being hot. It is damn hot in Charlotte right now. if you look in the top right corner of the pinwheel picture you will see that all of my grass is dead. However, we have gotten some summer showers, so my bushes and that one little purple flowering plant look great. Well, that and Miss Lilly, my lovely next door neighbor, waters my plants when she waters hers. She is the best neighbor ever. I was sad when I heard she was selling her place.

Anyway, back to the WIPs...

I am knitting the Mystery. Mystery Stole 3 that is. I haven't put a lot of time into it, so I am not quite through clue 1. I am going to try to work on it tonight, but the Tomato has been calling me to finish it so I can wear it and since there are 7 clues in the mystery, I have time to catch up.

These are the only active WIPs I have. Although Cristi challenged me to finish the Mariposa I started 2 summers ago. All I have left it to sew on the straps. No, really. I just haven't done it. The knitting has been done since the Summer of 2005. As was one seam. Seam 2 was done last summer. This is the summer I finish it!

Tomorrow I have a funny pic of the kittehs for you which I took earlier this week. Or a finished Tomato. One never knows.

Yes, I realize there is no title. Blogger won't let me put one in. it should read:

Another Handspun Monday!! (to the tune of Pleasant Valley Sunday)



I joined the Tour de Fleece. This is what I have after Day 3 - This is the Gothic Princess colorway from the Distillery kids. This is a hot pink, black and gray wool and I love it. I will be taking pictures as I go with the Tour. I have big plans for the next couple weeks!!!



My thinking is that by spinning every day for 15 minutes (and that is actual spinning time, not including prep time) then I will get really good by the end of the month. OK - WAY BETTER than I am now.

Episode 8 - No clever title here!

FO:
Dream Swatch from Knit n Tonic - there are pics and talk about the pattern a couple posts back.
Lotus Blossom Socks for the Hill Country Yarns Sock Contest

Yarn: Hill Country Yarns Instant Gratification in Hot Fuscia
Yardage: Well, I haven't weighed my yarn to figure out how much I have left, but I have a lot.
I would tell you more, but then I think they have to kill me. And you. We shall see if I even place.

WIPs:
Pinwheel Sweater
Mystery Stole 3 (which has a crazy number of people!!!)
Tomato from No Sheep for You: Knit Happy with Cotton, Silk, Linen, Hemp, Bamboo & Other Delights
There are some more, but I didn't work on them so shhhhh!

Spinning:

Finished the Gothic Queen Colorway and started Gothic Princess from the Distillery Kids - working on it for the Tour de Fleece!

Books Mentioned:

The Ultimate Sourcebook of Knitting and Crochet Stitches

Favorite Socks: 25 Timeless Designs from Interweave - the plan is to review this next time. However, I reserve the right to buy something between now and the next show that I just HAVE to talk about.

Glamour Knits: 15 Sensuous Designs to Knit and Keep Forever (Erika Knight Collectibles)

Ahhh...Fun!

Cristi and I went on a yarn tour of Ashville, NC! I put up a full post about this trip last week if you want to back up there and read all about it.

Earthguild

Purl's Yarn Emporium

Yarn Paradise (it should be called Koigu HEAVEN!)

Book Review:

I got wordy on this one. Sorry. I LOVE this book!!

Charity Crafting:

Annie Modesitt's Red Carpet Convertible Pattern. You can download the pattern and/or make a donation.

Crafting for a Cause:

1287 items donated as of yesterday!

517 in July!

Square contest is going on through the 15th.

Upcoming Events:

Southeastern Animal Fiber Festival!

If I said "I must say" one more time I think I will have to die!

We interrupt this WIP Wednesday...

So, you were expecting pictures of WIPs weren't you? Well, today is a holiday here in the United States of this here America and I have decided to make it real holiday for me. In fact all day today and all last night I kept thinking today is Saturday. Sad that I have to work tomorrow instead of continuing this nice relaxing pace, but that is what the weekend is for I guess.

But how could you not take pictures???, you ask. Well, instead I took in pictures! Today I slept in and then headed to the movie theater where I took in both Transformers and Live Free or Die Hard. I have a teeny tiny secret to reveal here. I LOVE movies in which a lot of things blow up. Seriously. Yeah, I like comedy, romance, sci fi, but I really like what I call big dumb fun movies and those all have a lot of action. I like to loose myself in the moment of the movie and just not have to think. So, off to the AMC I went and had myself a good time.

I don't know about you, but I like to bring knitting to the movies. I don't knit during the movie, because I like to look at my knitting to make sure it isn't all messed up every once in awhile, but I like to knit before the movie starts since I am usually there about 20 mins early. Well, today, I had 2 movies to knit before so I got just over 30 mins in on my latest project. Which I started last night. Because startitis got me. I am ashamed. Not really.

I will post WIP Wednesday tomorrow instead. Maybe. You are lucky you even got a word from me today because today is all about me. Momentarily I will be spinning because Wednesdays are spinning days. And then tomorrow I really need to work on Chart B of the mystery stole since I haven't touched it and I ripped out the 6 rows I had worked because I made the mistake of working on it last night after a bad day at work and got frustrated enough that I just ripped back to my life line. Yeah. I could have tinked a row or 2, but I wasn't in the mood for tinking.

To tide you over, here is a picture of Sammy the Pug. We love Sammy and this is the pic that is my screensaver at the office. I can't wait to start taking pictures of my knitting with Mr. Sammy.

And that's a wrap!

A head wrap that is. Specifically the Dream Swatch from Knit and Tonic.

It still needs a light blocking, but I was so excited I finished that I wanted to wear it to knitting Monday night and have Cristi snap a few shots for me. Thanks, Christi.
Jean Marie just doesn't look all that impressed with whatever it is I have to say at the moment.

Made this from the mill ends of some Koigu I bought at Yarn Paradise. There was plenty there and I am super excited about it. And bonus, I am watching a Knitty Gritty episode (the Scout teaches us all to dye episode) and Scout is wearing this headwrap. If it isn't this one it is so damned close I can't tell it isn't this pattern (and yeah, I got up on the tv to check it out).

So, now I am only at 5 projects on the needles.