Yarn! Yarn! And Even More Yarn!

I had a blast at Stitches. Friday, I took Fine Finishing with Nancie Wiseman, which was great. Nancie's a good teacher, and had lots of tips. I can seam a sweater now without it looking like a Frankenknit! Today, Sunday, I took Short Rowing Bust Darts with Lily Chin. She's a kick, anda good teacher as well. I have a much better idea of how to plan a sweater from start to finish. No wonder nothing ever fit. I have some yarn in the stash...

Speaking of yarn, here's what I bought. I stayed within my budget, so I didn't get everything I wanted. There was some very expensive yarn I decided to splurge for on Friday, but their credit card machine broke just as I got to the counter, and I didn't have any checks. I guess I didn't need that yarn after all.

This is a locally dyed yarn from San Mateo, Baywood Yarns Superwash Sport in the Waves colorway. Yummy, isn't it? It has no purpose other than to be beautiful at the moment.







Some Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock in the Fire on the Mountain and January One colorways. I know, I know, I hated knitting that one sock, but sock yarn is so cute and collectible! These may even become socks someday.






This is Blue Moon Fiber Arts Twisted! in Sherbet. No project in mind yet, but it's nice and bright, isn't it?







Fleece Artist Sea Wool in Marine, companion to Handmaiden's Sea Silk. Stitches West was the US debut for this yarn. I think I'd like to actually make socks out of this. I personally like this better than Sea Silk, but then, I think silk smells funny, so make of that what you will.








Interlacements Toasty Toes in Las Vegas Brights. It may become a Lady Eleanor. I like it so far, but I'm only on the second tier. It is awfully bright. It's quite possible that you can see it from orbit.





Ceallach Dyes Sunuvasock! in Opinionated Pink. She uses solar dyes on her yarn and fiber. I think it's going to be a scarf.






Just Our Yarn Caravan, 65% wool, 35% camel down. I have no idea what I'm going to do with this, but I fell in love with the colorway. Not my usual style at all, as you can see. Maybe I'm reforming. Or I finally burned my retinas out. It's somewhere between laceweight and fingering, so maybe it will be a lace shawl.





I didn't get this at Stitches, but it came in on Thursday, so it counts. It's Louet Gems Worsted in Carribean Blue. I did have a project in mind, but I've changed my mind a couple of times since I ordered it.






And finally, Marta from White Lies Designs. The yarn above may go into this.

Coming soon - Yarn Pron!

Yes, I went to the Stitches Marketplace on Thursday night. Yes, I spent money, but only half my budget, due to the excess of mohair (allergic) and silk (smells funny). I have class today, Fine Finishing. The woman I was in the registration line with took it last year and said it was...interesting. We'll see. Will post pictures either tonight or Saturday of my goodies. I'm too busy gloating over them right now. Plus, I really need to go to bed if I hope to get anything out of today's class.

The sock is complete!

No pictures, though, it's a terrible sight to behold. :)

Tomorrow is Stitches! I think I'll swing by and pick up my registration packet tomorrow evening, so I don't have to stand in line early in the morning on Friday. I'm taking Fine Finishing with Nancy Wiseman all day Friday, and Short Rowing Bust Darts on Sunday with Lily Chin. I'm looking forward to it, although I do wonder what I was thinking, taking 9 hours of classes. Plus, I'll be in class all day Friday. Everyone else will get to the yarn before I do! *big grin*

I think I should work on my bag today. I could probably finish at least the body and some of the i-cord.

Lady E goes to the frog pond

Again. Oh, well, third time's a charm, right? I have a jumbo ball of Silk Garden waiting for me to begin again. It's much easier to frog with a winder. Not as many tangles that way.

My sock is nearly finished, I've just left the grafting. Since it's been so long since I've grafted, I'm waiting for tomorrow night's class.

I've finished all of my swatches for Stitches, and finally admitted that a 7 was too loose for worsted, so I moved down to a 6. They look much better. I can't decide if I want to re-knit the others, or leave them as is.

I worked 5 rounds on B4 bag, just to remind myself that I can actually knit. After the past week's disasters, I was beginning to wonder if I should just put the needles down permanently. Nah. What fun would that be?

Socks and Lady Eleanor

I am taking a sock knitting class. I thought I would enjoy it, I love knitting in the round. I don't. I'm not sure why, but I think I'll finish the sock for class, and that will be that. At least I tried it, right? More sock yarn for the sock addicts!

I started on Lady Eleanor, and then had to rip, since I made a serious mistake wayyy back in tier 1 and didn't notice until tier 3. Sigh. So I'm starting over again. I'm using Noro Silk Garden #243. It's a lovely colorway, and I'm enjoying knitting it.

I've almost finished my homework for Stitches. Just 2 1/2 swatches to go!

My B4 bag for the International Tote Exchange is on the back burner. I'll pick it up again after Stitches.

Tote Exchange III

Well, I must be crazy, because I signed up for another exchange. :smile: This time, I think I'll be making the B4 bag, using a rose garden theme. Coincidentally, the area near where I live is called the Rose Garden. Here is the yarn I'll be using. The colors aren't quite right in the picture, the red is deeper than that. I've been thinking about this colorway for a while, so I may make another one for me!

Awesome gift from my secret pal!

Here are pictures of the wonderful package I received from my secret pal from the SP9 exchange:

It came all the way from Singapore.












Here's the inside of the package:










The wrapped goodies:












And the unwrapped packages.





Included were stitch markers, a CD just for me!, and lots of other goodies. Thank you, I feel very spoiled.

PS to my secret pal: I'm terrible at games, so I couldn't guess your identity, sorry! ;)

Lovely knitting gift

I received a very sweet parting gift from one of my co-workers last night. She gave me a pair of size 15 bamboo needles and 4 skeins of Bernat Bling-Bling. It is in peachy tones. I have absolutely no idea what to do with it. It's a real bear to knit with, and now I have 4 skeins of it! I've been thinking about doing some free form knitting or crochet, and making a sort of tapestry out of yarn and fiber, so perhaps this would be a good use for it.

To tote or not to tote?

Tote Exchange III is coming up soon. Do I want to participate? On the one hand, it could be a great way to use up my stash, on the other hand, I didn't have much fun knitting for Tote Exchange II, ended up crocheting instead, and I definitely wasn't pleased with the outcome. On the other hand, I just gave notice at my job, and am planning to take some time off, so I might have a lot more free time to knit. I wonder if anyone would like a hot pink cabled tote? I could definitely do that from my stash. Hmm. Well, I have a couple of weeks to think about it.

I'm dawdling on my Vintage Velvet. I haven't even finished one repeat yet! It's not a difficult pattern, but Touch Me isn't very much fun to knit with, even though it's very soft. I think I need to knit something in a medium weight, smooth yarn for a while. I could start the Lady of the Forest, it's a nice worsted weight, straight forward pattern.

My precious Touch Me Due arrived today

This is going to make the yummiest scarf, I can just tell. It's even prettier in person than it is online. And it's oh, so soft and squishy. Now where's my copy of Scarf Style? Maybe I'll cast on tonight for the Vintage Velvet. Ooh, it's going to be so pretty, I can't wait!

Ribbit, ribbit

My final Christmas present went to the frog pond again. Luckily, I don't think I'm going to see her until after New Year's, and it's deadly quiet at work this week, so I think I can finish it by the end of the week.

My co-worker whose husband is in the ICU is coming in to work a half day today, so I can give her her present then. It's a lovely scarf from a Colorsong Yarn kit, in a colorway with teal, burgundy, and gold. I normally don't like fringe on my scarves, but this one cried out for it. I took a picture before I wrapped it this morning, but, like always, forgot to bring the camera to the computer. ;)

A lovely card

I received a lovely holiday card from my knittee in the Scarf Exchange. I'm so glad that she likes her scarf. (P.S. It's perfectly safe to wear in the rain, it's superwash.)

I finally got a package out to my secret pal in the Secret Pal 9 exchange. I still have another package worth to send, but I think I'll send that first thing in January.

I just purchased enough Touch Me Due (in purple, of course) for Vintage Velvet from Scarf Style. Yummy! I love Touch Me, although I prefer it in its unfelted state, but I'm going to risk it for Vintage Velvet.

I'm alive, really!

It's been a crazy couple of weeks, and I haven't posted at all. Anyway, I am down to the wire with Christmas presents. I have one that I haven't even started yet. I think I'll be buying her something, rather than knitting. I have 2 packages that must go out today if they are to arrive in time. I haven't decided if I trust the postal service, or if they'll be going 2nd day air via UPS.

One of my dear friend's husband is in the hospital with pneumonia. It seems there is something in the air here, as everyone seems to have a loved one in the hospital for one reason or another.

Pictures and Crochet Lace

Here are my goodies from my secret pal, a scarf, a coin purse, bangles;









orange gummis, Pocky, green tea, green tea ice;










strawberry cough drops, origami papers and instructions and orange yarn. (The kitty paws came separately.)

I received my copy of Amazing Crochet Lace today. Lots of fun projects and a couple I want to tackle right away, although I'll have to go yarn shopping. Hmmm. I just got my registration confirmation for Stitches West and I did get the classes I wanted. Hurray! Maybe I'll save up my yarn money for February, though. It's only 3 months away. I have lots of yarn in the stash that I should use.

Secret Pal package arrived!

I received a package from my secret pal in Singapore today, with lots of goodies, including some orange gummies that actually taste like oranges, and one intriguing package called Green Tea Ice, with the instructions written in Japanese. I'll have to take that into work to be translated. She also sent a beautiful wine & cream scarf, some pretty pink bangles, a cute purple coin purse, and some tiny origami papers with instructions (I know what I'm doing at work tomorrow!) and some dark orange yarn. I'll post pics this afternoon after work. Thank you, secret pal!

I had an uneventful holiday weekend, although I did finally put together my knitting bookshelf. Surprisingly, I still have room to add to my knitting book collection. :) The cats were fascinated by this new toy, and spent all day yesterday jumping on and off the bookshelf, and curling up next to the books.

No actual knitting was accomplished, but I spent some time planning out my next projects. And now I have that lovely orange yarn that wants to be a scarf, or maybe some fingerless gloves, or even a hat. Hmmm.

New scarf AND a new book

I started a new scarf in elann's Baby Cashmere. It's a lovely burgundy color. It's another reversible cable scarf, but it's teeny-tiny. The cables are so cute at that size! It was going to be a Christmas present, but at that size, I'm not sure I'll finish in time.

I don't have anything else on the needles at the moment, which is a little disconcerting. However, I have the yarn and have swatched for Sally Melville's Not So Warm Coat, the lighter version of the Einstein coat. It's Patons Katrina in a lovely pale blue, perfect for blue jeans. I also have Ilga Leja's Lady of the Forest shawl kit, in Paris Memory, from Colorsong Yarns, which I've been meaning to start. But I just got Victorian Lace Today last night, and I'm so tempted by those, even though most of them are beyond my skills at the moment. They're simply gorgeous, though. I will not go to the LYS tonight, I won't, I won't. (Sure, that'll happen.)

The scarf is done!

I finished my scarf for ISE III today. I couldn't get the cast off to match the cast on exactly, but it's close enough. I think it came out beautifully. I'm already planning a second scarf, with 3 reversible cables, 1 large and 2 small, one on each side of the large one. Maybe in a worsted or DK weight cashmere, for a skinny scarf scarf for a petite friend. Mmm, cashmere!

Oh, so very late!

Here is a picture of my tote for the International Tote Exchange. It's going out in the mail today. I'm not sure about it, but I hardly have time to do another.








Here's the lovely lace scarf I received in the International Scarf Exchange.



















Now I have to finish my scarf for the exchange. I was hoping to be done by now, but no luck. Soon, though.

Progress, I hope

So I think I'm making progress. I'm halfway done with my scarf for ISE III. It has, however, gotten quite boring to knit, cables and all. I hope 3 more hours will do it. maybe Stitch n' Bitch tomorrow will finish it off. So I'm working on my tote for ITE II instead. This is at least the 4th or 5th one I've attempted, so I'm really afraid of jinxing it by saying too much. It's crocheted instead of knitted, which seems to have taken some of the pressure off.

I've also been putting together my first shipment for my secret pal in Secret Pal 9. So far, I have, well, way too much stuff, but it's so much fun! I think I have almost enough for 3 boxes, one each month. I'm so much better at putting together gifts bags or boxes for people than I am actually making things. I think it's because I think of deadlines as "suggestions."

I received a post card from my secret pal in Singapore on Thursday. It definitely brightened up what had been a lousy day! Thanks, secret pal!

Disaster strikes

Yesterday, I had two nasty knitting disasters. One, the purse refused to felt and dyed itself mud brown. It is spectacularly ugly. Two, the yarn linen yarn I bought and brought home to wind? Towards the end of the skein, it flew off the ball winder. Ok, I stop and check, it's wrapped around the ball winder. I have remove the ball winder from the table to get the yarn off of it. Then I realize that it is hopeless tangled, so I decided to wind it back into a skein on the swift, whereupon it promptly knots itself around the base of the swift. So I have to remove the swift from the table and fight to get the yarn off of it. At this point, it is a hopelessly tangled mess and I don't have time to deal with it. At least it wasn't laceweight, I suppose.