Visions of projects dancing in my head

This weekend was a "guild weekend", so my attention was focused on all things crafty: embroidery, knitting, crochet, spinning and weaving. Saturday, I learned a few smocking basics. Sunday included a quick trip to an alpaca event "on the way" to my tapestry weaving get-together.

I have been thinking about using a tapestry design instead of my freeform attempt last time. While I loved doing the freeform project, I really want to focus on technique. So I decided to do a sampler from Kristen Glasbrook's Tapestry Weaving. Yarn is bought and I am ready to go!

And last but not least, here my knitting/crochet projects as of today. From top left, my steeking class project (homework completed!), Autumn Vines Beret from Never Not Knitting, and two potholders for my grandmother.

Needless to say, house projects have come to a standstill. I really need to get those back underway - christmas is still in my living room and I also want to do another cull of the stash.

Someday....

Confession Time: Read Instructions First

Soooo, I am fascinated by this whole steeking thing. I mean, you knit something in the round, grab a pair of scissors, and whammo! A cardigan that you don't have to seam.....right? And then there is that whole craziness about actually cutting your knitting and it not meaning that a really bad thing happened.

Imagine the thrill when the LYS had a class on, you guessed it, steeking! I quickly handed over my check to the teacher and a few weeks later, actually read the class description after seeing the class sample.

Class level: Intermediate. You must know how to knit in the round on DPN’s, Cast-on, Knit, Purl, increase, decrease and you worked at least one project in stranded color knitting. 

Catch that last part?

 Ever see a stranded color knitting project on this blog?

Yeah, there's a reason for that. Though I guess "worked" really doesn't mean completed, does it?

So after a crazy couple of weeks/months of tired eyes and hand pain, I embark on this adventure!

Hey, at least it isn't skydiving.

Although, there's an idea!

Progress update

So! Another week has flown by. "The Princess" has put me through the proverbial wringer this week by choosing not to eat much of anything and still vocalizing every other second. I had a blinding flash of the obvious and broke out the higher calorie food I got for her brother and she ate a good portion of that, so I hope that things are making a turn for the better.

House projects continue to move slowly along, but I love, love, love the porch!!! Even with the ridiculously high temps and humidity, it has been nice to sit under the fan in the evenings and early mornings.

On the crafting front, current projects in progress....projects for me....projects for class....projects all around. Top to bottom, scribble lace, "when cowls fly", m fairy, and merino silk on my greensleeves spindle.

And because I love this stuff, a closer look

Not a ton of progress, but progress nonetheless. I have a vacation coming up and hopefully that will allow me to make some headway on some of my UFOs. But in the meantime, I have to make some serious progress on the house!

Busy bee

I'm coming up on some vacation time, and I am sooo ready!

The studio is pretty much "done" for the time being. I am still working on furniture and decor, but the primary goal was met: all of my stash currently lives in this room. My needlework has not been sorted yet, but all yarn and fiber have been looked at and sorted.

The full set can be seen on my flickr page here. The short answer is that I have a very large stash of yarn and fiber. I am hoping to work through it some, now that I truly know the scope of it.

I think I want to join the Tour de Fleece (rav link). But I do so horribly at knit-a-longs and spin-a-longs! Regardless, I have been training on the matchless:

This is a wool blend from Spunky Eclectic, in Pine from the semi-solid series. I've got 2 ounces and have done about an ounce.

Stitching and knitting continue. Right now, I am working on a shawl that I started when I first started knitting:

And my Mirabilia fairy now has part of an arm!

The monster cats have been enjoying the studio as well.

The big guy and I are heading back to the specialist at the end of the week. His recent bloodwork has apparently gotten the vet concerned. So we shall see how things go.

The rest of my vacation will be some more house projects and hopefully some shopping trips, catch up on some movies, and maybe make a beach day trip (cross fingers). Oh yeah, and my birthday is next week!

blocked and ready to go!

I adore silk, even though my lifestyle doesn't necessarily love it.

Tilli Tomas silk in American Beauty colorway. 

On to the next project!

Still in the Tunnel - Random Thoughts

No real coherent thought here, but I feel like if I don't blog now, I just won't.

One more week of "the tunnel" I think, couple more things to wrap up and then I am off most of next week for training.

Bad iPhone pic of the patient boy at the vets a few weeks back, waiting for his meds to be ready.



The good news is that his tumor still shrinking. The only real side effect I have found from all of this is that some of his hair fell out and the regrowth in that area and around his tumor has changed. Am hoping we can take a break from all the antibiotics, but don't know how realistic it is. But he is playing with his toys, chasing his sister and demanding cuddles.

I feel ridiculously grateful for the extension he has gotten. If I knew then what I know now, would I do it all again? I just don't know.

Next checkup is around the beginning of July but I may move it up to avoid the whole holiday traffic thing. Let's face it, far too many idiot drivers out there....

Starting next week I am taking a day or two off each week to try and get Chez Shell under control. Right now, the studio is about half emptied. Living room is crowded with evicted studio stuff. I know the "experts" say to not pull everything out, but everything has been so topsy-turvey with my organizing efforts I pretty much have to. It's a good thing that I did, I have found yarn in just about every corner.



The first couple of skeins were humorous to find, but most would have been candidates for the yarn yard sale. So, more stuff for the donation bag. I will take a picture of the final "Mt. Yarn" once I am sure that I have found ALL of it.

Right now, it is about a 6' tower of large bins.....right next to a 5' tower of medium size bins. Yeah. Seriously scary that I am describing my "after" stack. Did I mention that was only my knitting yarn? The 10/2 and 8/2 cotton for weaving are in other bins, sorted by size.

On to better topics, like KNITTING!

The studio sort has also uncovered knitting WIPs, lot of em. After a brief round or two of Survivor WIP, I now have a list of 27 projects in progress. 27!?!?! I have a sneaking suspicion that like the random yarn balls, the studio will uncover another project or two, but in the meantime, I have pared that 27 down to a cast of eight projects that I plan to concentrate on.

First project is this one:



using Tilli Tomas silk in the American Beauty colorway. This is an old picture, but it still looks like this, just much longer. Should be finished up in the next couple of days, assuming I don't drop the needle out of the project.......again.

That's all for today. The cats are pacing, which means it is time for bed!
And maybe a snack!

Acceptance

I have quite a few projects sitting around. And truly limited time to knit. Yesterday, I came to the humble conclusion that one would never make it to completion.



So a friend helped me take it apart.





At some point, something got spilled or it felted or melted or something on it. So there is still a big chunk that will get pitched. Or I will throw it into the washing machine and see what happens.



Still a lot of lovely yarn....Cherry Tree Hill Ariel, Cherry Tree Hill Alpine Baby, Brown Sheep Top of the Lamb, and some other unknown yarn that appears to be a Cherry Tree Hill something.

And the butt kicking continues!!

Since this is actually a crafting blog, here's the good stuff at the top. Updates on life in general, the house, and cats are after the pics of the monster cats. Sorry for the less than ideal iPhone pics, my camera has gone into hiding so until I find it or buy a new camera, it will just have to do!

First I'm declaring myself as sidelined from the kitting olympics due to injury. The carpal is just not letting me working on Laminaria very long each day. I spent some time in the car with it and it is still in the transition chart stage.



I am still going to limp along on this project though. And am also planning to start the Evenstar Mystery Shawl at some point very soon....using Skacel Merino Lace. This one will truly be a challenge, a round lace shawl that measures about 5 feet across. Many knitters have already begun this mystery, and the knitting is truly lovely.

Luckily, my "oh shiny" crafting distractability can give me some other things to do while my hands heal up from my carpal flare-up.

My stitching mojo is definitely back! Went to the not-so-local shop today and picked up the missing color for one of my stitching projects. I am working on Mirabilia's "M" fairy. Upper body is completed, moving down her skirt and the "M". I also picked up a few goodies at the shop!



I will also have some stitchalongs starting soon. My EGA chapter will be doing a silk ribbon group correspondence course and we are also embarking on an intro brazilian embroidery project. Updates on this coming soon.

Spindle spinning is also becoming almost a daily activity. I turned a little bit of this Paigewood Fiber Puffs into this little length of navajo-plied yumminess.




I have a Damsel Monique spindle in my desk drawer for some breaktime spinning with some merino-silk blended beauty, but I am strongly considering putting these puffs in a bowl on my desk with my Hound spindle. It is not the easiest for spindle spinning or for plying on the spindle, but it is a lot of fun to look at and fondle.

To continue my Greensleeves Spindle addiction, I finally picked up the spindle that has been yelling at me at the shop for months - a Connie's Mjolinor. Yet another laceweight spindle. On it is a small sampling of the northern lights roving from louet. Now it is working through a merino/silk blend in a lovely blue. Pics on that later!







And now for the non-crafting component of the post. I truly want this to remain a crafting blog. But as you know, real life tends to interfere with all crafting all the time - so no blogging material. And while a lot of real life I want to leave unblogged, there are aspects that I want to share. So here's a (mostly) quick catch-up:

The "other busy season" at work begins next week. So I have been frantically running errands to stock up on essentials, catching up with friends, and trying to accomplish just a few more house projects.

My carpal continues to be a problem. After too much caffiene and regular knitting, my hands and wrists are not amused. I have taken pain killers and plan to break out the ice packs shortly.

The homefront....is still in flux...many projects this weekend and a post to follow involving geese, beavers, decluttering, and my ridiculously huge stash.

And now for the true butt-kicking component of the post.....I should know better than to be more than cautiously optimistic on the cat's progress. His check-up was less than positive, an infection has returned and his tumor has not shrunk further. In fact it appears to have grown, though the vet acknowledge that it may be related to the infection rather than the tumor. So we have another med added to the mix and a follow up in 3 weeks.

2010 has been kicking my butt!

No time or energy to blog this year.....Between daytrips to the out-of-town vet, work ramping up again, house stuff, and carpal flareups....I have been too tired to be much of a conversationalist....just ask my friends and family! So blogging has been very far down on the list.



While not a happy traveler, the monster cat has been fairly good traveler. His tumor has responded very well to the meds. His hair has still not grown back much, the shaved spots on his jaw and legs are covered in almost a fine down. But the abscess has healed up, he is acting and eating as normally as he ever has. His weight is back up over 13 lbs, so I think the oncologist will be pleased when she sees him at the end of this week (though needless to say he will be less than thrilled to see her).

The medication schedule is mostly manageable for me, though I need to give him a test run at my parents or find a sitter before I feel comfortable leaving town for anything. He is unpredictable with his willingness to take them and given his size, I'm not sure that even my mom can manage him. So I have pretty much written off going to Convergence this summer. After this check up, I plan to ship him off to mom for a test run.

For some insane reason, I decided to sign up for the knitting olympics and cast on Laminaria by Elizabeth Freeman (ravelry link). I am making a shawlette of sorts using one skein of Handmaiden Mini Maiden. I seriously doubt I will finish it before the closing ceremonies, but we shall see! In the meantime, here's a bad picture.



While I like this yarn and the pattern so far, I am not totally loving this yarn. The single spun yarn tends to get a little shreddy, for lack of a better descriptor. Maybe I rub my hands too much on it, or my hands are just too warm, but there is a definite halo to this.

I think I have my stitching mojo back....I finished Iris Window Garden by Calico Crossroads today! This has been a longterm work in progress, which is sad given its small size. I worked this on linen using silk threads and a black metallic for the back-stitching.



I still need to date it and attach the charm, but it is essentially done! So I have picked up my Mirabilia initial project, when I should be working on my Olympic knitting project. But that's what I am in the mood for right now!

Hopefully more later this week....

Running Fast Yet Staying In Place

Christmas came and went like a blur. I was able to spend a lot of time with my parents, which is great. I am lucky to be off this week as well, but I fear my to do list far exceeds the amount of time available - short of being cloned or hiring a fleet of helpers. So I suspect that while I will likely accomplish a lot of stuff this week, it will feel like I didn't accomplish anything.

The monster cats and I moved home last week. Big monster kitty got his biopsy stitches out, by some miracle, he was very well behaved. He has been diagnosed with a squamous cell carcinoma, which while it is not bone cancer, it is still cancer with not a good outlook. As a last hope, I am taking him to a vet oncologist tomorrow to try and figure out if there is any reasonable course of action that will still give him quality of life.

For Christmas this year, I whipped up three of the cabled mice from WendyKnits - two for them and one for my grandmother's new kitten. The first one was "disappeared" within 24 hours. The second is still hanging in there and is quite popular. Here is an assortment of bad pics to show how they were enjoyed. You can really see the lump on his jaw in one of these:

I also finished Oceane last night and wore it out today to my dr appt. This was a super easy knit, a bit monotonus, and I got nervous towards the end that I would run out of yarn before completing it. But it all ended well and it looks like this in the wind.

I used one ball of Marble Chunky from James C. Brett, which is 100% acryllic. It is a very nice acryllic with multiple color strands plied together. It is very soft, not scratchy, so I think this yarn would be great for a lap blanket or baby blanket also.

Time for dinner and some relaxing with the family. More later!

Emerging from the cold fog

My cold has improved greatly, the "brain fog" has left but I still sound pretty scary. It really knocked me down, so I worked really hard at taking it easy and trying to get well. The monster cats watched over me and made sure that I stayed put as much as possible:



While camped out with the sock and cat, I watched Interweave's "Start Spinning" with Maggie Casey and Eunny Jang. It was a very good video, well made, lots of tips and tricks ranging from fiber prep to spinning technique.

Mom graciously agreed to take on Thanksgiving so I wouldn't get the entire family sick. By the time of the big day, I was well enough to join everyone, but was assigned at my own little table at the other side of the room.

All the knitting time paid off:



The second "first sock" is complete! These are definitely fraternal, not identical - I made some changes to the first one that I could not identify for the second. Plus, although the dye lots are the same, the colors appear to be slightly different! I still have a lot to learn about making socks. I'm so worried that I will make them too small, I end up making them a little big!

The LYS had its "Black Saturday" sale this past weekend. I helped out and tried to resist, but quite a little pile of stash followed me home:



Cashmere, SeaSilk, and Rumple from Handmaiden, Winter Lace from Moutain Colors, Chunky Alpaca from Misti Alpaca, and a couple more lovely things. Now if I can just get the Pretty Thing Cowl (rav link) done, I will be a happy camper. I am using Bamboo-Bison from Fibre-Isle, it is lovely!



I did get some house activities moving again during November. Nothing terribly dramatic, but I am thrilled that the checkmarks are slowly moving down the list. Basic repairs made. A few plants planted. Carpet cleaned. Done, done, done.

And its December already! I need to finish up my gift list this week, one of the biggest craft festivals will be happening this weekend. Mom and I are planning to shop til we drop! I am considering getting a tree to try and get into the Christmas spirit, even though I probably won't be home much this month.

Tomorrow will be an early one, off to bed!

Sick with a Capital ICK

I hab a cold. It's sorta a bad one, low grade fever, coughing.

The commercials that say "take this, and get on with your life" are lying plain and simple. I feel like crap, sound scary, and just want to take a nap.

Needless to say, I'm not doing turkey-day feasting at my house.

Which is disappointing.

But for the best on a number of levels.

/whine

As always when I don't blog, the month has been busy with lots of work, beaver attacks, touring a quilt show, participating in a garage sale, and continued decluttering and yard prettying. Giving all the gory details probably isn't necessary, so moving on!

Educational content! Here is what a fully grown beaver can do:



The "twin" of this tree had already been gnawed down by the beastie and has already started growing back. Sadly, this one keeps hanging on, but I think its days are numbered.

And now for knitting - progress on my second "first" sock!!



I completed the leg and did the heel flap over the weekend before the cold settled in. After that, my brain could not focus on the gusset, so I set it aside and have slept and watched more movies than is healthy.

That's all for now! Time for some chicken soup!!!

November already?

It is Sunday again. And its November. Wow, where did my year go???

At least knitting progress have been made! My second "first sock" is slowly approaching the heel. Very slowly! Apologies in advance on the bad pics....my camera is hiding so these are indoor evening iPhone pics.



I'm also working on Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's Pretty Thing, using a sport weight Bison Bamboo blend from Fiber Isle. After a false start, I am enjoying the pattern and adoring the softness that is this yarn.



In non-knitting news, I picked up some fresh flowers when I went to the grocery store this weekend. I love getting them, but rarely do because I am hardly home this time of year so I really don't get to enjoy them. The vase was my grandmother's and I think of her every time I see it.



House projects have stalled. I need to get a move on this week, the AC man has been scheduled, but the handyman, painter, and carpet cleaner have not. The beav has made his presence known again, going after a smallish tree. Not sure if he has killed this one or not, but I did break out the "beaver repel" in the form of a strobe light tonight to see if it will protect the three crepe mrytles and the tree that leans over the waterway. No picture, but just stare into a flashlight as you turn it on and off and you get the feel for it. I hope it isn't aggravating my neighbors (as it is in full view of their house), but plenty aggravating to this unpredictable beastie!

All for now! I need to rest my tired eyes and hands for a busy work week!!!

One UFO down!

I admit it, I am awful about finishing projects.

Starting them is no problem whatsoever - there's just something about the thrill of finding the perfect project, buying/finding the perfect yarn, pulling together all the appropriate accessories, and casting on!

So, I decided to participate in a couple of UFO challenges this year to encourage me to finish a couple of cross stitch and knitting projects. I'm still slacking on the stitching, but the first knitting project is done - a Hemlock Ring throw made in Misti Alpaca chunky. It wasn't a long project, but definitely had lingering potential.

Since it is a throw, not a fine lace shawl, we just did a light blocking to let the pattern shine:



For my next knitting UFO, I picked up my first sock project, but have been really ignoring it this week. What can I say, k2p2 ribbing just does not thrill me. So I need to dive back into the UFO box and see what else I have. The likely contestants will be:



1. first socks 2. seascape shawl
3. morning glory stole 4. glynnis socks
5. lace leaf shawl 6. swallowtail shawl

Decisions, decisions!

Long time no blog!!

Yeah, its me again. The incredibly slacking blogger! August and September were filled with vacation and house projects. Here's a quick mosaic of some of the pictures I actually remembered to take!



From left to right, top to bottom: completed seafoam scarf, the beach, knitting at the beach, Hemlock Ring #1, first completed tapestry using handspun, my newly mulched back bed, Hemlock Ring #2, yet another murderous beaver attack, daylillies being transplanted.

As you can see, house projects continue to progress, albeit extremely slowly! I did get the back bed finally filled with mulch, after the beaver came back and finally killed the tree he came after 15 months before! It has opened up that bed greatly, and my dad planted some crepe myrtles around the stump. Hopefully the rodent won't be back too quickly, these plants are far too low for me to get an adequate fence around. The culvert repair that was on this list has been completed. As has restaining the front door and repairing wood rot around the back door.

I think I have finally finished moving mulch around the house, so have collapsed on the couch to blog. Instead of preparing for the briefing I have in the morning. Guess that will be tonight's problem. In the meanwhile, I need pain killers. Hemlock #2 needs blocking so a trip to the LYS is in order for some afterhours cat-free blocking time.

More plans and schemes on the way!!!

Gadget!!!

A few months back, I heard about the Knit Kit. I picked one up the other day, I love it!!!!



It was a bit pricier than I had hoped, but when you think about the price of all of the components, I would likely have spent about the same amount. It has:

Locking row counter
Crochet hook
Thread cutter
Folding scissors
Tape Measure
Point protectors
8 Stitch markers

It has been very easy to work with this weekend. And while I am admittedly rough on things, I think this will hold up. Time will tell!

Adopting sheep

My sheep came home from the shop during the holidays and I gifted one to a woman I know who ooohed and aahhed over the sheep and was determined to hire me to make one for her. She was so tickled that my pink sheep was to be hers, but then she decided the pink sheep needed a face. I finally got around to embroidering on a face and took some pics of the "Sisters" before pinkie went off to her new home.





It was hard to part with her. In other "pink" news, the toe color for the month!



Its such a cheery pink!! Note the goose on her nest in the background.....she's now off the nest and eggs have hatched! More later!