Instant Gratification

I cheated on my knitting with the knitting machine. It was great. I bought yarn Saturday morning and had a finished project by Saturday night. That was one of the wraps some one requested. The pictures were a little ummm, bad, really bad. But I had a finished wrap/shawl. I used 3 balls of Bernat soft boucle' (yeah, acryllic, hush) in black. I ws going to put fringe on theends, but I ran out of yarn and I couldn't go back and get more becuase what I bought was all they had in black. That's fine since the recipient was more than pleased without the fringe. Now I have to find more of that yarn to make another one. Two projects in a week? How cool to finish something and see it being enjoyed by someone (who is not related to you and therefore has no obligation to not hurt your feelings by not appreciating you hard work and creativity)!

Kitty Boots, Novelty Yarn, & A Big 'Ol Swatch

Kitty Boots:

Novelty Yarn:

And A Big 'Ol Swatch:

Hello?

I have really missed knitting and writing about it. I have a few requests for knitted items and I haven't even taken the time to go pick out yarn! What real knitter would pass up a chance to buy yarn when they have a good excuse to do so? I guess one that's settling into a new job and schedule with a longer drive to and from work and a knitter who wants to make a 4-5 hour drive to Baton Rouge every weekend to see a baby. That would be some quality knit-time if somebody else drove. It's hard to knit while you're driving, especially in heavy traffic. No, I didn't actually try, but I did work out a plan in my head, but the only knitting that would be suitable behind the wheel is socks and since I just have those boring black socks in progress at the moment, it just wouldn't be worth the ticket a state trooper might be tempted to issue. However, if I happen to purchase some really funky, bright-colored sock yarn, well, I might have to suck it up and pay the fine (if it comes to that). Tempting. Get thee behind me wool-devil. I will not knit and drive. I will not knit and drive. I will not knit and drive. I will not knit and drive......

Yay For New Things

And I don't get all excited about many new things that aren't yarn related. But anytime you get a new family member is reason to get excited. I think my weekends are going to be a little busier now that I have a brand new niece to spoil. And knit for-can't forget that. Not that I have time to be knitting right now, I've got a baby to go rock!

Still Not A Photographer

The Kiri shawl turned out beautiful. You'll have to trust me because the pictures are not exactly true to life. I can show you this:

Or I could show you this:

Not much better? I could have posted the ones I took the other day. But at least it proves I finished it! And I liked the pattern, so I might do another one, but not anytime soon.

Felted?

Or just felt? I wonder if that's right? Would somebody who felts alot think I myself had made felt when I had actually only felt felt? Would somebody who never felted before think I was a little off if they overheard a discussion on felt. I feel they might. Who's on first?

This used to be a box of navaho churro wool from Walks Far Acres farm. Then it became my first attempt at spinning. Then it turned into a dyeing experiment. Then it hatched into an actual project. I crocheted a little bag and made and i-cord handle for it and then began the felting process. Keep in mind that this was my first try and I know nothing about which types of wool felt the best. I don't know that much about spinning yet either for that matter. This turned out to be a very coarse wool, you wouldn't want it on your skin, trust me. I don't know how the sheep themselves could stand it. But it was a good, fairly inexpensive wool to learn with. And it did dye pretty much as expected, so I don't have any legitimate complaints. And the finished project? Well, what do you think? It's just about the right size for a sock-in-progress or for a Tot-tote.
Kind of cute, isn't it? And in other knitting news..................there isn't much. Well, I probably could have the Kiri shawl done today, but it will need some blocking before it's ready to be seen. We'll see how that goes.

I'm a Knitter Not a Photographer

I finished these toddler socks, but I'm ashamed to say that's I've spent 30 minutes just trying to get a picture. They either turn out blurry or black. But these are really cute little socks and I should have finished them a long time ago, but I got distracted. They are navy blue acrillic-very durable. And I made a design in hem-glue on the bottom so that it will have little rubber-grippy things and little feet will have a better chance of staying where should. Or help them get to where the shouldn't, whatever.

I present Baby Jackson Socks. Trust me, they're cute. I just hope these fit! And Baby Girl To Be Named In Nine Days will get a pair to go with her cardi. One day. No, she won't have any hand-knit socks when she arrives, I'm a bad aunt.

Fastest Shipper in theWest!

Er, make that north. If you're in the market for some pretty new needles, you've got to check out The Red Barn Farm. (theredbarnfarm.net) It's dark and raining, so I haven't got a picture to post of these gorgeous rosewood needles, but they make me wanna buy more yarn. I'm on a yarn diet, but I just might dig something out of the stash and test drive them.

Check out The Red Barn Farm's E-bay store if you get a chance. I'm hooked!

Yay For Knitting!

And a BIG YAY for grandparents that have a special knack for keeping little ones entertained so mommy can have a little knitting time. I didn't take any pictures of Kiri-it still looks like a pretty pile of yarn. But I did take a few pictures of one of the techniques the Tot's grandparents have discovered to keep her happily occupied.

For this you will need:

1 Small child approx 30 lbs(gender not important)

1 Mild sunny day

1 Large pile of leaves (oh, come on, you weren't using them for anything)

Toss child into leaves whole and mix well until child looks like this:

Now, hurry and go knit before the youngster gets tired of this.

I'm Still Here

I don't know if I'm coming or going most of the time, but I'm here somewhere. And I have been knitting a little. Enough to finish a plain fuzzy black scarf some one requested. It was fun and really fast on US13 needles. And who knew WalMart had their own line of novelty yarn? It was gratifying to finish a project even if it was something so easy........well, it was easy. (I was going to say so easy that my mother could do it, but I think she reads this sometimes. Hi Mom) I've also done a little knitting on some ME stuff. The Kiri shawl with KnitPicks Shimmer-still in progress. The 'Plain Black Socks' in KnitPicks Essential-also still in progress and very close to finishing ONE. I still think 1x1 ribbing in black yarn of any kind is the most boring thing ever, but I carry it around anyway in case I need something easy/boring to keep my hands busy or occupy some time when it wouldn't be prudent to drag out the Kiri. Oh, and I would have taken a picture of the progress on Kiri, but it looks alot like the last picture only a slightly larger pile of yarn. And the sock doesn't get a picture either since one black sock looks alot like every other black sock ever knitted.

Oh, and I retract my reccommendation for Ardith Keef. The Peace Fleece needles I ordered for my mom's Christmas present back in NOVEMBER never came. I finally called to ask what was up since I knew they would be back-ordered until December 9th, but now it's January and I haven't heard from them. No e-mail, no nothin'. I hate that. I knew orders would take a while to ship during the holidays and they had some bad weather up there too, but a little communication isn't too much to ask, is it? Bad customer service=me cancelling an order and shopping elsewhere from now on. So I'm going to go check out Ebay and see if I can find some pretty needles that would make a new knitter happy.