Quick Pic

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Here's a pic of the roving I'm spinning up. It's really spinning up nicely, despite the fact that it's pretty matted in some places, and a little felted. This is about 1/6 of the total amount. I pulled the whole long strip in half, and then pulled each half into three strips. So this is right after I finished the first strip. It's got fun coloring, lime greens, bright yellow and orange, and hot pink. There are varying shades of the colors as well. I like it!It's also not quite as shiny as it is in this picture. It has silk in it though, so that's probably why it looks that way. I'm so excited to finish this one!

Halfway there!!!

Ok so tonight, while listening to Lime and Violet, my new internet podcast obsession, I finished spinning the first half of my pink merino roving. Here it is on the bobbin, all pretty and thin and smooth. I'm so glad to be half way done with this seemingly massive amount of spinning. I know it's not, and I've got much much more ahead of me with my plans for spinning 8 ounces into enough for that Dragon shawl...
Here is the little pile of what's left for the other half and then I will ply!
This is the project I cast on I believe Monday night. It's the Ms. Marigold vest from Zephyr. It's going super fast and I can't wait to finish it. This yarn is sooooo soft and gorgeous, and a tiny bit shiny. I should have this done in no time. After the length of it is knit, just the arm and neck holes need finishing. Which really isn't much.
I also starting spinning another bobbin but it's not of the pink merino. I was just getting toooo tired of the pink, I needed a break. I have plans to get more bobbins though so it's ok, and there isn't much of this one. So it'll be a lot faster to spin. Pics of that will come later though because it's not even enough to take a picture of.

Still spinnin

Monday, September 24, 2007

My one measly little picture:
This is all I have left to spin for my first bobbin of singles. I won't have a completely full bobbin, but it's half of the total of roving I had left. I'm excited to be half done (almost) but at the same time, that means I've got a whole half left! Ugh, I'm so ready to be done and move on to the next set of roving.

It's going well though, and I'm happy with it so far. I can't wait to be done and get to knit with it. I'm also dying to try a new plying method (not new, but new to me) I saw on Alyson's blog. There's a video on one of her older posts that she linked to from the Yarn Wench. (Video is here.) It looks really fun and easy, and I really wanna do it. I'm thinking of using the pink and yellow roving I've got. I think I can get sock weight spinning at the weight I am now, by doing the 3 ply. Because I don't know if I'll ever spin thicker than I do now. I'm used to it, and find it hard to spin any thicker...

Really spinning is all I've been doing. I picked up my black kidsilk spring things shawl las night, but I dropped a stitch, and it was late, so I just put it down again. I also picked up another sweater I was working on but I found a little beetle (not a wool eating bug) on it...so then I put it down. Ah the hazards of living in the basement. I swear there are so many bugs down here.

I also picked up my mad color weave sock today. I did a few rows but it was close to dinner so I didn't get much done. I'm on the heel, but I'm worried the sock won't fit....so I've been delaying it in case I end up having to rip...

Seriously though, I've done no other knitting. I've been so sick that I can barely sit up. We all have it and it really sucks for the kids, who have been barely sleeping. Anyway, that's also been why I'm not knitting. That and school.

Ah school...I'm still behind and getting progressively more so in my other class. One of the easy ones. I am spending so much time trying to catch up that I have neglected my other classes a bit. Soooo I really have to work hard to keep up. It's stressful and my current state of mind is that I feel so crappy, I don't care. Like I really just don't even want to do it.

Ok so off to do something productive. Yes I know it's 1 AM but I slept until 2pm and therefore am wayyy not tired. I leave you with a quiz...this is my result.

What Kind of Knitter Are You?

You appear to be a Knitting Guru. You love knitting and do it all the time. While finishing a piece is the plan, you still love the process, and can't imagine a day going by without giving some time to your yarn. Packing for vacation involves leaving ample space for the stash and supplies. It can be hard to tell where the yarn ends and you begin.http://marniemaclean.com
Take this quiz!








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All That Glitters

Thursday, September 20, 2007

I feel like a bad blogger lately, I'm so used to having lots to say! Nothing really going on. School, moping around the house. I'm in one of those funks. Not really depressed but where I don't feel like doing much.

I did get my roving in the mail today! As I mentioned before it's from Copperpot on etsy, and it's called All That Glitters. I love that name. I can't wait to spin it up. Of course I'm finishing the merino first. And I need more bobbins. Anyway here are some pics, it's hard to capture the glitteryness.
I haven't really knit anything though, just on my sister's leg warmers, which hurt to knit. I don't like the yarn much. And it's funny how size 3 needles seem freakishly huge after 1-2's.

On the job front, well I'm not so sure about that design job. I've been in twice and thought I was doing ok but apparently they do things much faster and different than I thought. I just don't have the time or motivation to learn a whole new program. It's also a more stressful job than I need right now. AND I remembered that there is a reason I switched from graphic design to web design. I hate designing for print. So I think I'm just going to let him know it isn't going to work out.

I am applying to other jobs though. So hopefully something will work out.

Otherwise it's just life as usual. I've been trying to find yarn for that tangled yoke cardigan. I am prollie going to get elsebeth lavold silky wool. The colors I like are 14 and 48, pretty greens. I'm waiting though because right now we just don't have any money for yarn. (sniff) Also I have a few patterns I want to buy that I recently discovered. It seems like I find all the fun stuff when we are broke lol. On top of that I really want to make the Lady Eleanor stole, but I have to find a good yarn to sub. Noro Silk Garden is the most common one but it's too scratchy for me. I saw some people using Rowan Tapestry, which is gorgeous, but I have to touch it next time I go to the LYS. Other than that I'm out of ideas! I guess I could dye my own...

Ok well I guess that's it. More when I have something good to post...

Still no knitting

Monday, September 17, 2007

I am so sad when I don't get to knit. It's just horrible. Ok I did do a little knitting. I finished the second Monkey sock, and it's getting sent off to Melissa tomorrow along with some other stuff. Hopefully they fit her right.

I started spinning another bobbin, but not much. I pretty much just swivel my chair around and spin for a minute when I get frustrated with school. My wheel is riiiiight behind me. Convenient eh? So it's getting there. I am excited and if I have enough yardage I will be making the lotus blossom shawl with it. We'll see, if there isn't there are plenty of other shawls.

Ummm lets see. I did get halfway caught up with my school stuff, so that's really really good. There's only a week left until I would no longer be able to drop without an F, so catching up means I won't have to drop and I will pass! So that's going well, and I'm relieved big time. A big thanks to Melissa as well, because without the encouragement, I am a big baby lol. I woulda wimped out and just dropped it I think.

She and I are doing a little trade this week. I'm sending her my spindolyn which has been sadly neglected since the wheel came along. And she is sending me some of her pretty hand dyed yarn which she sells in her etsy shop. The one I'm getting is Blueberry Pie and I can't wait!

I also ordered some custom roving from Copperpot. I can't wait to get it.
Here's a link to it, she's selling some of it in her shop. Except mine is merino tencel, and that one is bfl, but the colors are the same. I am hoping that 8 ounces of it will be enough to spin up for my Heere be Dragone shawl that I want to make. I will have to spin carefully. The shawl calls for I think...16 or 1800 yards. Either way I will find something to do with it. :D

The only other knitting I've been doing is today I picked up my sisters legwarmers again since she's been anxious to have them. Truth is it hurts my hands with the yarn and needles I'm using. Ah well, a little at a time.

And last but definitely not least, I am going back to that job tomorrow so they can test my skills. I know illustrator pretty well, but apparently they like freehand, so I downloaded a free trial of it on the internet from adobe.com, and I'm trying to figure out the little differences. It sucks, but I'm determined. I hope to god they hire me. I need this really bad.

Ok so now I'm gonna go mess with that, and hopefully figure it out before it gets too late.

Just a quickie...

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

My first wheel spun skein. 234 yards/22grams of pink Merino. I have 64 grams left to spin so I think I can get another 600 yards out of it at least. If I keep spinning as thin as I have been. I'm beyond excited! I only thought I'd get 300-400 yards total! I also can't wait to spin something else, with more color!

There will be no knitting...

I finally received that stupid tutorial cd that I mentioned in my other posts. TODAY. They friggen sent it snail mail. Anyway it doesn't matter because...

I finally

Finally

FINALLY

have faster internet!

Today the guy came and installed it! It took him forever, he was having some issues getting the cable through the wall, but it's in now and working and awesome!

BUT since I got the cd, and faster internet, this also means I have six weeks of flash animation stuff to learn and design as soon as I possibly can. Or I fail...

So there will be no knitting.

Ok really there just won't be much knitting. I know this is sad, so here's a picture of my sock to comfort you. Blurry but it's there! One repeat left before the heel, I'm hoping this fits over my foot, it's a bit tight, so we'll see...it's pretty stretchy.

Finally some pictures!

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Ok so this post will be mostly pictures. It's late and I don't feel like jabbering on. I'm supposed to be cleaning because my satellite internet is getting installed tomorrow. Unless something gets in the way of that. Anywho I don't want it to be a disaster. So no thanks to hubby whom I'm a little pissed off at...

On a good note, I got a call today for an interview on thurs for some design stuff. The bad part is the work I've done needs to be printed out to bring with me, you know for a portfolio, and most of it won't print in the right colors. Damn design programs!!! I'm seriously annoyed.

Another good thing, my Chewy Spaghetti sock club package came today. I LOVE the yarn, way better colors to my taste as compared to the last skein. I loooove it. There are some other things, one of which (a sheep bath fizzy) got smashed to bits in the package on it's way. Here's a pic of the yarn.
Here are pics of all the things mentioned in the last post, though they are now out of date. Well here's the red top I finished. I think it came out well. I have to weave in the ends and I'll get a pic of it on.The twisted flower sock which I totally love.
The monkey sock, which I am now way past this point, in fact I'm done with the heel and into the foot already. It won't be long before it's done.And my Mad Color Weave socks. I'm also a bit further, this is just beginning, I've just finished the third pattern repeat of 6 for the cuff. I would be further but I haven't touched it since th last post until today. In this pic you can just see the slanty weave stitches. All you do is slip them for two rows and then knit on the third. It's really much easier than I thought it would be.
No pics of this but I am still spinning away. I am going to ply some next, to clear the bobbins and then I will split the rest of the pink merino up evenly and spin onto two bobbins to ply again. I think it will be more sock weight but I can still use it for a small shawl.

Ok off to clean some more... god who the heck cleans at 3:30 in the morning? Good thing I drank some caffeine...I'm really gonna be dragging tomorrow...

Some FO's and a warning.

Saturday, September 08, 2007

Ok so I've got a few finished objects...but I can't show you! Hahahahah ok only because the camera battery is charging right now. I promise pictures tomorrow!

I finished the twisted flower sock. It's perfect...

I finished that red turtleneck tube top thing from the fitted knits book I started back in june. There was a whopping 2 INCHES left and it killed me to do it. I'm not kidding, my hands and arms really hurt right now. Certain things do that...

I started the other monkey sock. It's such an easy pattern, I can knit while I'm concentrating on other things. Or take it to knit while the kids eat or play or whatever.

I'm trying to start another sock...something not quite as intense as the twisted flower, but more involved than the monkey. The pattern is Mad Color Weave and I purposely bought the Claudia Handpainted (in freesia) for the pattern, but the freesia has a ton of one color in it so the colors are pooling in the pattern, in a way I do not care for...

Mini-rant here:

Some of you know that I'm taking online web design classes, and some may know that out here in the country I only have dial up. Nothing else is available except for satellite which is rather expensive. Well I'm finally getting satellite Tuesday. That's beside the point right now though because not having anything faster than dial up has been an issue with classes in the past, and now it's an issue again. I'm taking an advanced class, learning Flash, and the only way to learn the work is to watch online tutorials. Well none of them will load or download because of the large file sizes. After trying for two weeks to download them somewhere with a faster connection, and failing, I finally called and asked if someone could burn them to a cd and ship them. Well that was Tuesday and there was no cd in today's mail. On Sunday I will be behind 6 weeks. My instructor has agreed to accept them late but he will probably dock points. Plus this is only a 9 week course, and that's a lot to catch up on! I'm freaking out a bit.

I also heard this today, it's going around spokane myspace and stuff, and I guess it's true, but the police for some reason don't want to put it on the news. I got this from a reputable source though and it's apparently happened in other states. So I thought I'd share, in case it's happening elsewhere.

There is some gang with this initiation thing going on. They have to drive around at night with their lights off and the first car to courtesy flash them (to say hey, your lights) becomes their target. They have to beat, shoot, kill, whatever, everyone in that car. So think twice before you flash next time. Who knows what could happen. The person who posted this is reputable in the community and it was late when they were driving and not many people were out, and I guess if they hadn't driven off (the people were out of their car, approaching theirs) they would have been victims. They were followed while calling 911 and were only left alone after reaching well lit, busier areas.

Stay safe everyone...

Stash Glimpse

Thursday, September 06, 2007

So maybe I should finally show you my last loopy order that I got. It was my sixth order and gave me my loopy groupie status. I really need to stop looking at TLE. There was an update today and I saw two more skeins of yarn in gorgeous colors that I MUST have. They were Fiesta Boomerang in Misty Morning, and Raspberry Mocha. GORGEOUS. I didn't buy them, but oh man I wanted to.

Here's a glimpse of the newest stash additions.

Dream in Color Smooshy Sock in Some Summer Sky
Seacoast Handpainted Panda in Raspberries
Shi Bui Sock in Orchidsand my wooden sock blockers with sheepies!I also got this tote, some loopy kisses,
and this Crystal Palace Panda Cotton in Tulips, which is my favorite of the colors.They were the welcome package for being a loopy groupie. Woohoo!

Here is a glimpse of my loverly twisted flower sock, on the blocker! You can really see how nice the pattern looks on here. I'm also quite a bit further, I've got about five rows to complete the foot chart. Then it says to repeat those last 5 or 6 rows till it's the right length and they are easy rows so it shouldn't take long before it's done!Oh yes and I refinished the toe of my first monkey sock. I had kitchenered it wrong and it had a hole. Before that though I ripped back the toe and knit an extra repeat because they are going to Melissa when they are done. I don't want to rip out the whole sock because they are overall too big, I'd rather knit another and send them off. I have more of this yarn too so I can knit more socks in it.

Ok so now I'm yawning, and duh it's 1:30, so no wonder. Off to bed!

Lonnnng Weekend

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

This weekend was horrible. I was sick all day Saturday and Sunday. The only good thing is that since it was the weekend, Chad was here to watch the kids. I seriously slept most of those two days and that was the only time I wasn't in as much pain. I think we all got food poisoning. The kids I think got sick too, neither one wanted to eat (neither did I) and Nick woke up Saturday night sick allll over his whole bed. Poor thing was so upset. After that though we all started to feel better and thank god because it was bad. I don't know how sick they were but if it was anything like how I felt...

Either way, that meant pretty much no knitting or spinning, or anything all weekend. I tried to knit a little in between sleeping, but I was so sick even just sitting upright. Ugh. Saturday my loopy order would have been at the post office, but Chad didn't make it there before they closed, so I didn't even have that to cheer me up. I'm going there first thing in the morning though to get it!

So there is really little to report, I just felt the need to post, like it's been months or something.

Now I'm going to bed, because Alexis has a dr. appt tomorrow for a diaper rash that isn't a diaper rash? It won't go away whatever it is and this is the third time in. It's rather annoying. Probably more so for her I imagine. Lets hope this time they figure out what it is.

I'll leave you with a picture of her...well her face, this is what it looked like yesterday when she realized I was actually going to let her touch the keyboard on the computer! It's blurry because Chad takes retarded pictures...