Sunday, February 24, 2008

Spinning up a Storm!

You know, this week I finished up the purple Romney! Actually, I finished it up last Sunday, but after my post so, here it is now:
The color goes pretty well with the Goblin Eyes, I think I have decided to start a free form couch throw and what ever I am not too sure about will go into it -I am kinda anal tho, and it will all have to match somewhat. I'm not that creative as you can see from the new quiz in the sidebar. It must be the accountant in me!

Here is the skein itself, I still plan to overdye with some black. I am planning a mental health day on Monday so I will try it then I think. Work has been a bitch lately, and I really need a few hours (days, weeks, months) to myself. I'm sick and tired of working for people who say they don't understand the language, or say they don't understand accounting. WTF? How did you get to be the COO then? Stupid man. I'm still dreaming of that yarn shop, when and if we ever find out about Caryn's scholarships for this upcoming year, then I will know what to do.

I got a deal on Spin Sales this week too, lookey, lookey! Well, maybe it wasn't the deal of the century, but I'm happy with it! As you probably know, Rick Reeves no longer makes any wheels. This frame wheel took me a few nights to get together and then a day to get my treadling down. It's really different from the other wheels I have, because it's a single treadle? I'm not entirely sure if that is the reason, or if RR made it function this way - heel toe, heel toe and a really, really short draw up distance!!

But, I am getting it and this is the result so far:


That picture is kinda dark, the color is a rich red coral by fiber monster on etsy.com. It practically spins itself! It shows up better in the picture above. I think maybe it will go with the goblin and purple I've got going -hmmmn? Have to think about that. . .

Have a good week everyone - I know I won't due to the work factor - auditor's plus month end. Yah, that works doesn't it? Insert Expletive here: "!"

Sunday, February 17, 2008

So, What's up this week?

Well, I guess lots of stuff! I am still in my finishing mode, and I found out this week that I will most definitely run out of one color for my Kai Cardigan. So, I ordered another skein from Karen, at Two Swans Yarns, but haven't heard anything at all from her site, or her. I think this is a sign that she has been swept away by the Madrona experience going on up there! I know she is a great vendor, so, I will wait. But, you know don't you that patience is not my #1 virtue right?
Here is a shot of the sleeve in progress:

I got six of these from my sweetie for Valentines Day:

They are so perfect, what I mean is that they are opening perfectly and they are so, so fragrant! Oh man! I love 'em, but really, I keep telling Chris, just one! I only need you to send me one!

And Caryn and I went prom dress shopping yesterday, and found the most perfect dress for her. Her date is 6' plus, and she is a bit nervous about that, so we got some sandals with heels for her too! D-A me, I forgot the camera, so I have no pictures to share, but suffice it to say, she is perfect in purple!

Speaking of purple, here are the finished purple romney bobbins:

And still in finishing mode, I am working on these still, slowly, as I was trying to make Kai the #1 project at this house, (until I ran out of yarn that is!) . . .

These are really fun, I am now working on glove #2 and will do all the fingers at the same time. That way, hopefully, everything will be even and the same size!

And you know, we had a little snow this week so Caryn got this great shot of Blazer:


Have a good week, everybody!

Sunday, February 10, 2008

It's All about the Eyes. . .

That would be the eyes of the storms that missed us this past week, but wreaked havoc in the State below us. I personally live two miles north of Tennessee, and the tornadoes that ran though last Tuesday night were not personally devastating, but they were definitely personally memorable, as Caryn and I were alone with the doggies and quite scared to go to bed!

Got my eyes checked on Monday evening and have a new prescription, yeah! Maybe this will help with the constant headaches. Yesterday, I had to have the dilation of the eyes so the Dr. could see the optic nerve. All is well there, but it was finally a bright sunny day, and I ended up with a headache all day that wouldn't go away.

First off, I must apologize for the size of these pictures! I am still not moving at normal speed, I don't think!

I tried to do some Navajo plying, where I normally sit to spin, and nope, that wasn't workin'! So, I moved onto the carpet, and then I couldn't see the yarn coming off the bobbin:

Ok, so try looking at it this way:

But, now you must imagine that your eyes are not entirely seeing this against that carpeting! Ok, well, I managed to move off the carpet and onto the hardwood flooring and then managed to do this:

I really liked the color of that shirt underneath the skein, and thought I would be able to crop it out, but, well, I guess I wasn't seeing things very well yesterday. Here is another shot:

Considering how bad I felt, I don't think I did that bad a job with it, I do think it is over plied, but after I soaked it I whacked it and snapped it pretty good, and it all seems to be ok today.

I plan to do the second bobbin today. This skein above was 4 oz. of Goblin Eyes from Spunky Eclectic's Fiber Club, and I got 149 yards from it. I have another full bobbin to do, so then it will be the uuummmhh, what do I do with 300 yards of this? Hhhhmmn? I will probably do some fingerless gloves or maybe some mittens.

So, Chris took me to the metropolis of Bowling Green last night, and I found some glasses I really like. Have to go back on Monday to get them all worked up as we got there late, and the place needed to call the insurance to even work them up! I plan on two pairs this year, as I need a pair of sunglasses too. Well, that's it from my corner of the world, so I leave you with a Happy Valentine's Day and Big



From Me!

Sunday, February 03, 2008

Birthdays, Kai Progress, and Football!

You know, we all have to have 'um. Yup another birthday for me this past Friday. . . but, it was great! Went to lunch with the work buds, and got presents from a special work bud, thanks Karen! Looky what Karen did just for me:

Please ignore the shopping list, Karen had absolutely nothin' to do with that! Good Grief! Anyway, isn't that bag simply awesome and I plan to make either stitch markers or just add to my key ring with those great charms!

Caryn, my dd, got me a journal and my favorite movie! Yeah, I'm just a kid at heart -

And Chris got me this great work station so I can use my combs and drum carder any darn time I want to! It folds up flat and it will hold up to 450 pounds! Pretty cool huh?

We had Coldstone Creamery cake and we went to The Bistro for dinner last night, so all in all it was really great. I heard from everyone, and that is what really does it for me, it's not the presents and food it's just that the people I love remember me on my special day.

Ok, enough and on to knitting! Here is the progress on Kai, here is a close up of a three needle bind off on one shoulder, I have, of course, done both shoulders!

After doing this you end up with a sack:

Look at that front steek! Holy crap all those ends! But you don't have to weave them in unless you want to! They will just be rolled up in the front edging if you feel lazy, and besides that, I always machine stitch my cut steeks and a lot of them get sewn down to boot. So, after all that it's time to cut, and I only cut what I am working on, so just one at a time, here is an armhole after cutting and sewing an armhole steek:

Looks pretty ugly doesn't it?

Well here it is with stitches:

It calls for 160 stitches, but I am thinkin' that's a lot! I need to look up my sunset cardigan and see what it called for and reconfigure for this pattern.

Ahh, football knitting! I know the Pats will win, but I always root for the underdog, so Go Giants!, just make it a good game!