Mail Call!

On Monday I received my June Spunky Club shipment and it is wonderful! She has such great colors. This one is called Tulip (and indeed resembles its namesake) but also works as good firefighter colors. I spun up more than half of it last night and I think it will be the yarn for Little Man's winter mittens. One random discovery I figured out while putting away my wheel is that I can spin my much desired thin yarn if I'm standing up. I do have a single treadle so this is possible but not really a comfortable option for long-term -- any suggestions? I'm thinking it's the room to pull out a longer draw that is letting met get down to the thinner gauge.

SCOUTs SWAG SPOILER AHEAD

Today's mail brought the June Scout's Swag shipment. A beautiful teal blue almost solid BFL and a cabled Cookie sock pattern. I'm sure it will be December before I have the two of them done but they will be stunning. I'm still intending on making a pair of Monkey socks out of the April selection. My camera battery is DOA so here's someone else's pic and here's a closeup of the pattern.

In WIP news, I should be casting off the body of the SKB today. I checked and I have two more skeins of yarn (one hidden benefit of losing weight is using less yarn) so I'm going to do the long sleeve version. Which means this will be done sometime this fall, knowing me. Clapotis is coming along as well. I just started the straight section after doing a few extra repeats of the increases.

Tuesday was my 30th birthday and we enjoyed a wonderful dinner at Sergio's Sarava. We had the full works (drink, apps, soup, entree, dessert and wine) and it was a wonderful birthday present. Wee children were with our new babysitter and it felt like old times. Yesterday we had wonderful weather for a birthday party and it was a great time as well. A friend gave me some scrumptious Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn in electrified sherbet colors that will be the most awesome Melinda socks of all time. She also included some beautiful blue stitch markers which are my first non-utilitarian markers. I will enjoy them Melissa, thank you!

Now I am off to pack, tomorrow we leave for a week in Baltimore.

JCC's Self Portrait and a Tended Yard

No knitting updates (it continues on much the same) but we did get our brush pile ground up this week and I am thrilled with the results. JCC had to take some pics after I did mine and his are priceless.





These are the after photos -- just imagine piles of brush throughout the ravine and you'll appreciate my joy at their absence.



The epitome of a 4.5 year old boy.

Knitting on the SNB (and it's huge size 5 needles) has wounded me -- I have a hole in my finger. Ouch. So instead of knitting I am spending my evening uploading pics of my stash. Fun fun.

In a Knitting Mood

Finally the urge to knit has struck again and I am busy cranking out the stitches. I picked the Simple Knitted Bodice back up and have just finished the lace band. Working the lace on size 3 needles with a worsted weight yarn leaves my wrist sore but the result is lovely.



Next for easy knitting in the company of others I've started another Clapotis. This time in a sport weight silk/merino named Tokyo by Interlacements on size 4 needles. Both of these projects were ones I decided on last summer and bought the yarn for at Stitches Midwest. I figure I can't responsibly visit another fiber festival until I've caught up with those purchases so I'm hoping to get these finished up over the next month.

Finished Just in Time

Just in time for Father's Day, 4 months late for his birthday. (Those are socks hanging there in case you can't tell.)






And here are JCC and I in the jungle posing by the ferns. I'm laughing as he's trying to get me to sniff the ferns (I have him trained to sniff flowers for photos). Yeah, I know he's cuter.



Lastly I have a drop stitch scarf out of my Forecast handspun. I was running late to my SnB and needed something requiring little thought to work on. This seemed to fit the bill. I can't wait for my next Spunky Club fiber to arrive. It's fun seeing what great colors she creates.

Spinning Away

Spinning has been an interesting pursuit for me because even though I don't do it very often my improvements seem exponential from time to time. Maybe it's because I've been doing some reading and thinking about it in the off time, but the results are getting closer and closer to what I want.



The first thing I spun up was the February installment of the Spunky Club, a merino named Forecast. I tried a technique from The Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook (awesome awesome book) and divided my roving by color and spun one bobbin mostly blue and the other mostly brown. I then plied them together. Or at least that's what I intended on doing. The actual result is so loosely plied it's humorous. But that's ok as the spinning itself was pretty good. It's spun enough that it didn't come apart when I was taking it off of the bobbin and yet isn't kinky.



Next I spun up another thing of roving from HPY. This time without nearly the amount of cursing as the last time. I tried a different technique and spun from the fold and found that this made it much much easier to deal with the slippery merino. I was trying different draws on this one and it's not as consistent as I would like, but overall it's strong and beautiful.

On Saturday instead of hanging with my usual knit cronies I visited The Cast on Cafe in Willoughby, OH with a mama friend. What a great shop! Despite my resolve to not buy yarn (ha) I bought some beautiful cotton crepe for some sort of tank. Usually at yarn shops I am amazed at the yarns but sad at the prices but she had some wonderful stuff for decent prices and I will definitely be going back.

I'm currently debating whether to knit Sizzle or a basic tank from the store's pattern. I got gauge and cast on for Sizzle but somehow my gauge in seed stitch is way off from my stockinette. I have frogged and am going to try again with a smaller needle and hope for the best.

Garden Mosaic

Garden Mosaic


The end of May is a great time for a Cleveland garden -- lots in bloom and the deer have plenty of other things to munch.

That Whole 7 Random Things Thing

Both PCR and Laura tagged me for this . . . I'm not tagging anyone as I think it has to have gotten to everyone by now. :)

1. Both of my children were born on the rug in our bedroom. I will now keep that rug forever.

2. I never willingly touched a worm until the Little Man made me do so. I didn't want to spread one of my irrational issues to my child so I held it all the while inwardly chanting "Eweweweweweweewe."

3. I could eat Thai food everyday and not tire of it. Luckily this area of Cleveland is blessed with many a good restaurant and I've become reasonably proficient at various curries.

4. If you saw my wardrobe you would think it belonged to two people. Half is your basic khaki, navy, black, work acceptable clothing and the other half (mainly pj's, socks, and exercise gear) is shocking pink and orange.

5. I will be 30 years old one month from today!

6. I never had any interest in gardening growing up even though both of my parents do plenty of it (dad has veggies, mom flowers) as they never wore gloves and I dislike touching dirt. When we moved here I bought some gloves and found a new love.

7. Every few years I have a word that I dislike -- first it was "genre", then "utilize" and most recently "meme". :)

FO: Sew U Skirt

Look at that -- I finished something! Chris has been going to sleep at the same time as the munchkins (he started his own business and is getting up really early as to have more time to work) and to try and to entertain myself in the evenings I finally made the skirt from Sew U. I wussed out on the zipper and darts and subbed elastic instead. This was very, very easy to make. My only real issue was due to my poor cutting skills. I think I may buy a rotary cutter, mat and straight edge to eliminate that problem. I do like the book but would note that you have to be pretty slim to make the patterns -- the above is the largest size skirt and I am way out of range of the shirt pattern.

Many thanks to Kate, Nancy and Stacey for posting their projects, sharing encouragement and advice, and just in general being sew inspiring (groan). I just love bloggers!

Making Up for Lost Time (pic intensive)

Apparently 4.5 years is the age of a rechargeable battery -- in the last few months we've had to replace both the video camera battery and now the digital camera. So, here are a few posts worth of pics.



Chris kindly made me these raised beds for some veggies! They are all planted in the square-foot gardening method and we now have lots of seedlings popping through. I'll go more in depth later.



Close-up of Nasturium growing in above bed.




We put down 15 yards of mulch two weeks ago. It makes everything really stand out.



The new hammock was my Mother's Day gift along with a latte and iTunes card!



The pansies are trying to rally after they were deer lunch.



The tree peony was stunning this year.



This is the tree peony I bought at last year's super end of season sale. Just one beautiful bloom this year.



Bleeding hearts are always pretty.



My mother brought me up the stunning hosta. I Love it!



A kind neighbor let us dig up a bunch of ostrich ferns last year but we thought they had died. Turns out that the first year you move ferns they put all of their energy into their roots.





And finally some knitting! I lucked out a few months ago and got a spot in the Scout's Swag Sign-up. Here is the beautiful yarn (named Lavender Mint) posing with the bluebells. Anyone have any ideas for a non-boring sock pattern that won't take forever? I love the Jaywalkers but it is not a speedy sock for me (have to look at it.) The next pic is one of the finished socks for my father. They were intended for his birthday but as that was in February, I'm now aiming for Father's Day. It's mate is half-way done.



It was close to 90 yesterday and we scoured the local stores for a rigid kiddy pool (the inflatable ones don't last long with outdoor kitties) wee girl enjoyed scooping water onto the plants.

Spring!

The Easter Bunny brought sunglasses instead of candy.


Ketchup love.


Goof ball.

I've been stuck in the doldrums of an extended winter and am only starting to feel like the end is in site. Over the last month we've had the stomach flu, Little Girl has had 3 of 4 molars come through, we've had head colds, Little Boy's allergies have been in full swing thanks to the one day of spring many weeks ago and my brief bit of respite has been a new running program. Going outside I see where my tulips should be, and where all of the flowering tree blooms have gone. Ug. Luckily we've had two days of sunshine and hopefully things we'll be looking good in the garden.

I'm only getting a wee bit of knitting done in the evenings -- there has been no progress on the Jaywalkers, the dad sock is down to the heel flap and the SKB is down to where you put the sleeves on holders.

Things We've Been Doing

It's officially spring here in Cleveland -- the daffodils are blooming, the trees are budding and the deer are eating my spring bulbs. Luckily they only ate about half but it's still quite depressing looking around and seeing all of the munched plants. Daffodils have been spared but the crocuses, tulips and glory of the snow are all a dismal site.

Things the munchkins and I have been doing: visiting the zoo, science center, and children's museum with our homeschool friends, playing hockey, running, gardening, hiking, baking, and more. Please not what we have not been doing: knitting, crocheting, or spinning. I get a few rows done everyday when they're in the bath but otherwise it's just not happening.


ACC in a box


Goofy boy


Hellebores


Hellebores


This will be a SKB


Jaywalkers

New Hat

Alright, so it's a new month and I'm still not getting much more done. Rangling children sure does take a lot of time. Between running them around to popcorn factory tours, visiting friends, and the normal household duties I'm not getting a ton of fiber love. I did knit up a ribbed hat out of my homespun merino -- it is oh so soft. I do wish it were a few rows longer so I may crochet a border out of some purple merino left over from Little Girl's coat.



Yesterday a few of us from the Eastside SnB members saw the Monet exhibit at the CMA. It was wonderful! While in college (3rd time or maybe 4th. . .) I was there at least once a week but since having JCC I've only been once! It was nice to revel in the silence and enjoy the color. To continue the color fest, afterwards we hit the local yarn shop. I managed to escape with only the following:

For Dad

Post haircut


Now with bangs!

I'm working on a Harry Potter scarf for Chris right now, I'm almost finished. I have a few gifts to knit and a bunch of new fiber to spin. Still doing well on our vegan eating plan. Still blah about February. I'll be a better blogger next month. . .

The Crafting Blahs

The finished skein from last week's post

The doldrums of February combined with a very active January find me with NOTHING on the needles or wheel. I cast on a balaclava for Chris but ripped it as I was foolishly attempting to knit from memory and was doing k2p2 instead of k2p3 even though I had a ton of stitches. You'd think I would have been proactive enough to consult the pattern after an inch or so of thinking "Gee, that looks awfully big." But no I waited until I had 3 inches completed.

Instead I've been reading and sleeping. :) I do much of my crafting in the evenings after both children are asleep but now that I've given up caffeine I find myself going to bed an hour or so earlier. I guess it's good to be getting the rest my body needs but my brain is craving a bit more.

Reading wise I've devoured a bunch of cooking books -- Eat to Live by Joel Furhman, Julie & Julia by Julie Powell and Tender at the Bone by Ruth Reichl. All three are good reads. I read the first two during the same week which made for an interesting juxtaposition as they are at the opposite ends of the eating spectrum. The former proposing a vegan, nutrient dense, low-fat diet and the other cooking offal in butter and cream. We're trying out the program outlined in Eat to Live and are doing pretty well -- we may be exhibiting a green tinge from all of the salad we are eating but otherwise feel satiated and healthy.

I do expect happy crafting days ahead of me as I have a large KnitPicks order coming my way with yarn for Chris's striped scarf, a surprise hat and a ton of dye for my Tunis roving. I also was lucky enough to have some spinning questions answered by a lovely and talented spinner. I can't wait to read the next post about drafting. I have more HPY fiber on the way as well as some other yummy stuff to spin and will test out her suggestions.

Thanks to the blizzard outside tomorrow will be our third day in a row home. Normally we are home on Tuesdays but get out and be merry the others. Today was surprisingly pleasant and hopefully tomorrow will be more of the same.

Lastly, I have to mention that my vacuum died the other week and I replaced it with the Roomba (for those that wanted a report, this is a Remanufactured Roomba Discovery) that my heart has been coveting. I LOVE it. It freaking rocks. I was doubtful that it would stand up to the fur but it does a great job even if I do have to empty it after every use. Now my only problem is figuring out how to keep Little Girl from turning it on every ten minutes. Hopefully the novelty will wear off soon.

Vivid Violet

roving with bits of lemon yellow throughout. Isn't it pretty? And oh so soft. Spinning is really an amazing thing -- time seems to evaporate when I'm doing it. I don't know if it's just because I'm learning and spend so much time thinking about what I'm doing or if it's just a magical craft in general. I've managed to solve my overtwist problem but now feel like I'm spending more time predrafting the roving than actually spinning. If you have advice please comment.



Pile o' baby hats awaiting to be delivered. (Babies have already arrived.)

Book Reviews

Remember way back when when I said I was going to sew? I bought very pretty fabric, prepped the fabric, cut out some patterns and then put it all away. I seem to have the best intentions to sew but then get stymied by some detail or another. However I really want to sew so I'm trying to find some good basic books sort of in the Stitch 'n Bitch vein.

While Amazon surfing I stumbled on Amy Butler's In Stitches and as I LOVE her patterns and fabric (to look at of course, haven't actually MADE any of them) I thought this would be a good book for me as it's supposedly a beginner book. Ha. The projects at first glance do look simple but when you actually look at the details they are much more complex than my new sewer self can hope to figure out. Luckily I found another that is much more suited to my needs: Sew U: The Built by Wendy Guide to Making Your Own Wardrobe This book rocks! It's for the absolute beginner and walks you through all the basic sewing stuff plus pattern modification. Three patterns are included with many details on all of the variations you can do with those three.

While reading through the how-to part of Sew U I figured out my sewing issue -- it's the fiddly nature of pinning and cutting out patterns. I get really annoyed when they slip or don't end up just right. (I don't want to discuss the zipper and drop-stitch cardigan for this very reason. Or rather the 4 failed attempts at proper zipper installation.) Wendy suggests using weights and a rotary cutter instead of pins/scissors. Hallelujah! I had a similar issue with gardening -- I grew up amongst gardeners but was never interested until I tried it while wearing gloves. That was the whole problem -- I hate the feel of dirt. Sew. . . here's hoping this is the launch of a new hobby. (Because I don't have enough of them as it is.)

One Wizard Scarf Complete

Nice and big. Chris loves it. I will be making another here shortly. His love is not for the HP tie-in but for the double layer, super long warmth so he has picked two blues instead of any of the HP school colors. I found downloadable ebooks from my library while knitting this and it has resulted in a dedicated knitter. Well, that and the fact that I was a monogamous knitter for once. Makes me wonder how fast I could do a sweater if I tried. This was about 700 yards including fringe. I swear my hair is not that *big*.



Here are the wee children painting.

And now I'm off to soak in the tub and peruse my new books: The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns and The Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook. I'm a tired girl tonight.

And the Hogwarts Scarf Begins

You can't get better timing than that. I finished my socks last night (after posting I immediately snagged one of them on a slightly raised nail and had to do repair work) and now the yarn for the Hogwarts scarf is here. However this scarf is not for me nor is it a gift -- a homeschooling mama is paying me to knit it!

How cool is that -- someone is paying me to knit. Rock on. It really doesn't get any better than that in my little world. Chris couldn't quite understand my excitement about this but when you haven't earned any income in almost 3 years any little bit is cause for a celebration. Anyway, do those colors look Gryffindor to you? The yarn is posing in the snow to get the best representation of the color. I'm not sure about the gold.

Boring Socks are Done and Little Girl is One!

From this. . .


to this. . .


And one goofy brother. . .


What a quick year that was! Not much knitting, but a wee girl is a good reason for that. She's really started communicating in the past week or two -- some signs (eat, more and book) and new words (bath and ball). She's had that moving thing down pat for a while but added climbing onto the couch and going backwards down the stairs to her repertoire.



For the knitting update -- the boring socks are finished. The yarn is some cheapo Knitpicks stuff that I don't really like (they feel rough and the yarn split a lot) and I even took off a recommended inch in length but they still feel too big. Apparently I like my shoes big. I buy size 9 shoes but when I put that in the sock wizard pattern generator it comes out with socks much too big for my feet. Anyway, these were fun to make and I have more sock yarn on the way for birthday gifts.

And lastly, I found a boo boo in the SnB Kitchner instructions. They have the four main steps but leave out those two preliminary steps (yarn into front stitch as if to purl, yarn into back stitch as if to knit) to get you ready to Kitchner. Laura, I wonder if this is why you are an unhappy kitchner-er?