Knitting With a Celebrity!

Well, not quite, but as my son used to say when he was small: "Made you look!" Well, let's try this again......... How about Yarn Shopping with a Celebrity. Now, that did happen to me yesterday. We were in the Orlando area, and I made my customary visit to Sip and Knit and noticed a lady in there shopping but did not think anything about it until she was leaving and someone said - I can't believe I met a movie star today. It was Patty Maloney, a TV and screen actress. What a surprise and an interesting twist on shopping for yarn.

So, we are home now, and a little tired, but happy nonetheless. We had wonderful weather and got to visit with some friends we have not seen in years. One of the fellows has been living in Hawaii for 13 years, so it has been a long, long time and we had a lot to catch up on, even though I am not sure I really wanted to know how to prepare octopus for cooking.

Wishing everyone a happy and prosperous New Year!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. This will be my last day to post for a few days, as we have planned a trip and will leave tomorrow.

My DH surprised me with a Drum Carder!! Yes, I desperately wanted one, but did not tell him that I wanted one. He was shopping around on spinning sites for me and decided it was something I "needed." I am one tickled lassie over it. I even seem to be able to use it without much trouble. It certainly is easier and faster than handcarding. The most weird thing about it was that he even picked the one that I had settled on if I ever decided to ask for one. I love the way the batts end up after processing and cannot wait to try some advanced color blending techniques - oh and he also threw in a pound of cashmere. I guess I'd better hold on to him!

Well finally the scarf is finished. I think I will name it the Silk Lily Pad Scarf since it had so many frogs! And this was not even a complicated pattern. I am pretty happy with my first handspun silk - it was fun to knit with when I wasn't ripping it out. The sweater is also handknit from a pattern (Simply Perfect Sweater) designed by my best knitting friend Elayne. The picture is kind of fuzzy - sometimes that happens when I resize them, but maybe you will get the general idea.

Ah, the nostalgia! If I had one childhood day to live over, it would certainly be on a Christmas Eve. Even now, memories evoke such strong emotions - a wintry day with 10 inches of snow that fell almost in an instant, sweet strains of Christmas Carols, either on radio, phonograph player or old chord organ (with me trying to play and my dad bravely singing along), the lazy comfort of being in a warm house with plenty of good food to munch on, the fabulous gift wrappings my aunt would conceive, even on the smallest of "stocking presents", the tree so tall that my dad would invariably have to cut off the top of it, bubble lights, the soft glow of the red and green bulbs from the cellophane wreaths hanging in the windows (I would rest on my bed and bask in the dim light and dream of Christmas day yet to come) and the sort of feeling I was getting away with something naughty when my parents would let me have a glass of their wine (this was the only time they would drink it, too).

Wishing everyone the merriest of Christmases!

Heh, heh, look at me! I finally learned how to add the blog button links. I know it is probably old stuff for the rest of you, but I am soooo HTML challenged. Well, baby steps..........

And this is the picture of the scarf in progress. I wanted it to be reversible, so picked the eyelet rib stitch pattern. Even though it is a simple lace pattern, it is still lace, so I am having to do a lot of frogging. Funny thing about lace, I have some sort of hang up about it. I am not one to shy away from knitting challenges, but where lace is concerned, I obviously just "don't get it." But I figure that lace is the best way to stretch my limited handspun silk.

My camera is still giving me fits. Every time I use it, something else seems to goof up. Today, I could not get the flash to work. In addition, every time I take a picture it makes multiple shots. It sounds like this rascal in running on its last legs, for sure. I guess I should have asked for a new camera for Christmas. This one is 4 years old, and has had a lot of use, I guess. But, I did manage a nice shot of my Booga Bag. Also, I got a shot of the scarf in progress, but right now, I am so frustrated, I am only messing with one picture at a time. So here's the bag..........

For anyone thinking of doing a Booga Bag

I found the perfect size item for blocking the bag, since I did not have the right size box. A dictionary size book is perfect! And it dried fast, too - overnight. Finished the bag and now have my junk in it. Will add picture soon. Now I would like one to match my vest colors, but it will have to wait. And wouldn't it be nice to have some fulled mittens out of the stuff, too?

What a totally blissful morning! First day of a long vacation (I will return to work after New Years), a day with no pressing obligations, a warm, cozy house, silk wound into a center pull ball and ready to be turned into an eyelet rib scarf!
My flu has finally stopped ravaging my senses, and I feel ready, ready, ready for Christmas! I still have a bit of shopping to do, but not enough to feel hurried or harried over it and some groceries to buy. I have plenty of gift wrapping, which I have put off, but will be a joy to do, once I get into it. DS is returning today from a visit to his girlfriend and family.

Last night, after work, we had supper on the waterfront in downtown Savannah before returning home. We had a lovely dinner with a view of the river. There was a boat cruising by that was all decked out in lights! It had a sleigh, animated reindeer and a huge Merry Christmas sign on it. I have never seen anything quite like it and added such a nice touch to a marvelous dinner!

In knitting news, I have a Booga Bag ready to felt, once I wade through this weeks laundry, which has piled up from us being out of town. I cannot wait to see the results.

Small Felted Bag - A Rave and a Short Rant

Here is the first felted item I ever made. I just love this little bag - everything about it! I love the colors I chose, the ease of the pattern, the perfect way the Brown Sheep Naturespun yarn felted (fuzzy and strong, but not overly hairy) and the cute little design of the Felted Retro Bag. It was a perfect project for a first time felting.

However, obtaining the pattern was something else again, and here's where the rant begins. The pattern was a "self published" one that included a nice presentation complete with photo and was for sale in one of those types of yarn shops where the cheapest skein of yarn is 20+ dollars (well, maybe I am exaggerating somewhat - but it is one of those "fanciful" shops in a touristy area that cater mostly to scarf knitters). They had several of the bag patterns in plastic sleeves and hooked together with a binder ring. I believe the pattern cost 4 dollars, but it has been awhile since I purchased the pattern, so I may be wrong about that. I took it to pay for it, and the lady at the counter said she would have to make me a copy. Well, I was certainly going to have none of that. #1 - if I pay $4.00 for a pattern, I want it to be in the form the person created it to be sold! I was not, under any circumstances, going to pay for a xerox copy! #2 - here is a retail shop that is actually cheating the designer by making xerox copies - basically the designer is not getting her fair share. I raised enough hay about it that I got a "real" one, but I wonder how many people she has run a copy for and charged the real price. That just steams me so much - I have been back to that shop one more time, but could not find it in my heart anywhere to buy a single item from this person. I am wondering if anyone else has had a similar thing happen to them.

I finished spinning the rest of my silk - it is now ready to be plied. I am so looking forward to making a scarf from it, but am ready to get back to spinning my nice, familiar wool.

Well, ta ta, for a few days. I must make a work related trip, but when I am done, I will almost be ready to be off for Christmas! Having a flexible schedule is nice, but travel is part of the price I pay for that schedule.

Practically no knitting news at this time, but I have a lot of Christmas stuff done now.

Scarf is washed, blocked and drying. Almost everyone on my Christmas list now has a present. Christmas tree has been bought and decorated. Now I am finally beginning to believe it is Christmas! I am still conking out early in the evening. My sweet darling lovable "baby" son is a wonderful chef and cooked us chicken alfredo and made Caesar salads for us last night. It is always such a treat when he cooks for us! Every time he comes home and goes back to school, it is a shock. You would think after 4+ years I would get used to this. But I think it is because I know the time is growing shorter, and someday he will not be coming home for extended periods of time.

Today will be a little bit more low key. I have a little bit of baking to do and some more Christmas shopping, but I vow not to overdo it today. And I probably should address my Christmas cards.

I am getting behind with this blogging business. Between getting over being sick and working out of town, I have just simply not had the time.

Tomorrow and Saturday will be devoted to Christmas shopping (I haven't even started yet - ugh!) and getting the house decorated. I am so glad I am going to be off tomorrow. Scarf also must be blocked and dried before I can wrap it.

On the bobbin currently is some yellow merino I am spinning to contrast with my pink/yellow yarn I entered in the Montpelier Fall Fiber Festival competition. Eventually, both will make a pair of mittens.

I hope everyone is staying well.

Whew!, I do not think we have ever had this cold a winter here ever since we moved down here 7 years ago. The first Christmas Eve we were living here, my son and I went walking on the beach in a balmy 76-ish degree weather. The weather patterns have obviously shifted some! On the bright side - it is a chance to wear all my handknits, but at this rate, I'd better get busy and make some more.

Uh oh, when I tried to take pictures yesterday, my digital camera started giving me trouble - it did not recognize the memory card, then after it did, I had to reformat it. I hope this is not a sign that my camera is giving out, now that I am having so much fun with it.

The scarf is almost done - I didn't get too much else done this weekend due to this dratted cold/flu/achy thing, whatever it is. Hopefully, all the rest will have paid off in the morning when I have to go back to work regardless.

And the fiber experiment du jour is.....
Multicolor blending using combs. I made myself a diz out of the corner of a milk jug, a la suggestion on Patsy Z's website. It was really a lot of fun. I am not too happy with the colors, but had to use what I already have.

Now I know that I can do this though, I will think about dyeing some colors that will blend better.

Well, I am not sure what is wrong with me, but it certainly feels like the flu. Achy all over, coughing, sore throat, headache - the whole package. As I told DH, I know I am sick when I don't want to eat or knit!

Here' what happens when the client you were supposed to call on today puts you off until tomorrow and you feel like you are coming down with a cold. It's time to play.......... hunt and peck HTML coding! At least I have a little bit more color to the site now, and I like the text size much better.
Well, off to do a little bit more sniffling and coughing.

Tada.........

Here are the finished clogs and the unfinished scarf!

Here's what's cooking on the needles now...... I am doing a wavy ribbed scarf in Kureyon. The yarn is muted browns and greys. I was not sure how much "fun" this would be, since I love the bright colors, but I am am really enjoying this and imagining different breeds of sheep or other fiber animals as the colors change. This is a not so secret Christmas present, as the receiver is seeing me work on this, but does not know who it is for or even what it is going to be. I have had this project on the back burners of my mind for over a year and am glad to see it is finally becoming reality.

In spinning news, I am still spinning some handpainted Brown Sheep Roving (type of wool not specified by supplier), which has wonderful reds, oranges and blues and is wonderfully springy to the touch after being plied. I can see this yarn as making a spectacular vest. I also "test spun" some of the mohair/merino mix I carded together, trying to make a loosely spun single. I think this is going to be beautiful, so I will keep working on pulling the trash out of the dyed mohair.

I work today, but will go in late, as I have a dental appointment a little later this morning. This is going to be an interesting situation, since I have a broken molar, which the dentist thinks he will be able to fix only by redoing my filling - I was really expecting to have to get a crown - if this works, I will be so happy!

The clogs are now felted, and I must say they are comfortable, even if they are homely little pilgrims. I learned a few things, should I ever wish to make any more of them. However, I am not sure I want to go through that particular process again. I found that Lamb's Pride felts really well, but comes off in big clumps during the felting process. At least I zipped the clogs up in a pillowcase so my washing machine was protected. I certainly don't want to break it, since we just had to have the thing repaired last week - it would not run through a spin cycle.

Well, I find tonight that I cannot seem to organize my thoughts or think of anything witty to say, so I will sign off for the time being.