FO! The Sweater!!!

I know!! I can't believe it either!! And in less than a year even!!!! Totally amazing! To say I'm proud of the sweater is a major understatement. I realize that many of you out there have knitted larger, more intricate projects....but I know that every one of you understand the importance and pride felt in completing The First of a type of project. And really, I was going to post pictures of me wearing it so you could see the proof that it truly fits. I even had the hubster take the pics....but in photoshop.....I just couldn't do it. Sorry. I can't put you through it! I need to putt the bread down and get back on my diet. ;) Sweater fits....but I'm not as svelte as I'd like to imagine! lol I knew I avoided having pics taken for a reason!

Guild and Knitting

I think I mentioned way back in January that our guild's Feb and March program was going to be a self striping sock yarn dyeing lesson. To participate we paid a very low fee in exchange for a skein of yarn, a dyeing board and the use of dyes. Not to mention handouts and hands on help from the more knowledgeable members. I spent the hour of Feb's lesson winding the yarn onto the board. I know, I sound stupid. Most of the participants around me are also weavers and were whipping through this process like mad women! Evidently you use a similar set up to wrap warps for a loom. (I have no idea what I just said so please don't ask me for clarification. If you'll recall, weaving was THE craft that I'm forcing myself not to get into yet!) Anyhoo...I ended up having to take mine home to complete the wrapping process and the tieing off. Now, being a go getter, I tied it off and took it off the board. It never occurred to me that someone might want to check my work and make sure I didn't goof in a sever way! oops!

When we arrived for our March meeting, our yarn was taken and placed in a bucket of water to soak and we were given a bucket number to remember. Then the business part of the meeting started. They called us over to the dyeing area one bucket at a time to wring out our yarn and lay it out for the dyeing. As there were SOOO many of us participating, I didn't take a whole lot of time picking out my colors. That's probably a good thing as I would never have put these colors together for myself and I actually like how it came out. lol After putting the dyes on the different sections, we wrapped them in plastic wrap and placed them in baggies to go home. (I tell you I couldn't WAIT to get out of there and get to the microwave!) Then it was just follow the rest of the directions. Nuke for 2 minutes, rest for 2 minutes, Nuke for 2 minutes, rest for 2 minutes, Nuke for 2 minutes, rest for 2 minutes. Burn fingers on plastic wrap because you can't wait to see what the colors look like! Duh, I know...this is why I don't teach remember? hehe There was no leaching out of color in the rinse out and I only had to fight it a bit to get it back on the board. Then it was just waiting for it to dry. Afterwards I skeined it and rewashed it and voila! self striping sock yarn ready to ball up and knit. I'm pretty pleased with this process and can't wait to do it again.....although the thought of spinning up all that white makes my skin crawl. Oh well. I do think I'll try the microwave dyeing again in the future as that was so slick and easy! I don't think it would be practical for large batches, but wow that was quick!

Now for an update on The Sweater. I do believe I may actually get to wear this sucker soon! I've been plugging away at it little bits here and there and Sunday was able to finish up the right front side. (Bells clang, ticker tape in the air, lights strobe, ect.) After completing it I realized the left front side looked a bit goofy. This is where I confess that I knew it was goofy, but thought I could fudge my way through in the seaming. Um, No. I understood the pattern better after the right side, so I frogged back the left side to the point of the collar shaping and redid that up to the shoulder. Lesson learned, problem fixed and probably future problems avoided. I'm now working on the first sleeve and moving right along on that one. So hopefully soon I can show a finished sweater. If it's done in less than a year it will be a complete record for me. I'm not holding my breath though. On the other end of the scale, Don's sock is languishing in neglected sock hell right now, and Melissa's slippers are waiting for the dyeing planets to align correctly for a successful dyeing day. ;) Yep...I think I have been off the planet for a bit. heheh.

Garden, Spinning, Knitting and Life

OK, so today's "update" is going to be a bit sloppy and informal. (I know...HUGE surprise there huh?!!) Cut me some slack...I stayed up way, way too late, and did too much today. Really, anything more than napping was going to be too much. lol

Last night was Scrap Night with Maria and Tracie. Maria hosted this one and evidently we were all needing to let our hair down because all three of us showed up with a bottle of wine! lol There was lots of food and laughter.

I did get to a point where it was just too hard to put the page kits together as each one had at least one picture of Mowgli in it. It's been nearly 5 months and even though we added Tucker to our lives, I still miss The Mo everyday. It's getting easier....but those scrap pages will just have to wait a bit longer.

Today was filled with "whatever" type stuff. After I achieved my goal of not having to cook breakfast, but scarfing down a huge breakfast nonetheless; I set about accomplishing I could today. Laundry, of course, was high priority. As was roughing up the pup and wearing him out in general. Then it was time in the garden.

I managed to get three of the 5 planting beds turned under and the cover crop chopped up. I'll try to get the other two done after work one of these nights. Then I'll cover with black plastic for a couple of weeks before planting so that the soil heats up. This will help the cover crop to start breaking down as well as making the beds a nice warm place to put the seeds or transplants into. ;) The last task out in the garden today was to transplant the raspberries and the strawberries. That done, I picked out the very few weeds in the walk ways and spread out the last of the pine shavings. Now I can break down the old strawberry boxes that are on the soon-to-be-again gravel pathway next to the house. That will give me the space to clean up the gravel walkway and rake that out nice.

It felt nice to be outside working in the garden again. I've been wanting to start weeding for weeks, but the weathers been so wet or cold or both that I've stayed indoors. Today was so balmy that I thought about going back out to work on the rose bed. However, I don't want to over do it to bad as I have a growing pup to keep up with. ;)

I'm still have the silk blend on my Traveler and am STILL working on the sweater. Don's sock has been placed in the bottom of the basket as I think I need to frog some of it. I will have to sit down and talk out the pattern and look at the as yet completed rows before I make the decision, so the sock is on the back burner.

I'll need to make some room in the knitting basket fast though as our Guild Meeting is Tuesday and that means dyeing sock yarn! I should be coming home with a skein of dyed---ready to be steamed sock yarn and it should be a self striping pattern! After it's all done, I'll take pics of the board that we received through this class and the results. Hopefully I remember to take pics of it BEFORE it's dyed. lol

Well, I better wrap this up as I still have Tucker's post to do and laundry to fold. And I'm tired. How tired am I? We had our Corned Beef, carrots, baby reds and cabbage today instead of yesterday. I didn't steam the cabbage. Totally forgot it. Completely. Ah well. It's will make a fine treat with the left overs, won't it now? ;)

On The Wheel

With the "purple" skein done it's off to happy, happy land.

Meaning, SILK blend! This is part of the silk laps that I purchased from Yarn or a Tale. As it's such silky goodness.....the flash shines out the color so you have to put up with two pictures. lol

I dyed this in the lap/roving form and discovered that pre-drafting afterwards made all the difference in spinning it up. I'm currently working on a separate spindle as I'm trying to only spin up half the bobbins and then ply them together, but it's tough as this spins up so nicely I just don't want to stop! lol

There's been a bit of progress on The Sweater. I did cast off the left front and immediately cast on the right front side on Sunday. I'm up to the beginning of the pocket lining and moving right along. With Tucker spending his home time outside now, I can actually knit or spin at night should the schedule allow. :) Yippee. lol

Abbie has adjusted back to the way things were pre-Tucker. She's back to spending time in her favorite spots and even tried to spar with me the other day. I'd say things are starting to return to normal.

In a Whirl Wind

Spinning

I've finally been able to get some spinning done and today was able to get the pics taken to prove it! There is a completed skein of white drying right now that I didn't take a picture of. I believe it's destined to be be dyed for a pair slippers.....not positive yet though.

In this picture Abbie is modeling my first attempt at Navajo plying. The fiber was some from the jar dyeing experiment last year. I'm not altogether pleased with the yarn. The colors stayed nicely separated, but the yarn itself is over twisted in my opinion. I'm considering running it through the wheel again and removing some of the twist. The colors themselves are o.k. and it's asking to become a felted bag. We'll see how it feels after a bit. It may change it's mind if I remove some of the twist and soften it up a bit.
Here is a picture of what's on the wheel right now. This was suppose to be black, but the fiber split into teal, purple, gray and pink. In it's carded roving state, it's a bit grotesque. It has to be in just the right light for the colors to stand out. So far it's spinning up nicely and very thin. It's fascinating to see the colors change as it spins up and I'm interested to see what it becomes. I'm thinking of spinning a single of something solid up and plying this with it. I just haven't decided yet. The trouble with this fiber right now is that I cannot get a true color picture of it. In these pic it shows purple but really .....it shows almost black at a bit of a distance. Maybe when the sun comes out again I'll be able to get a good color reading outside.

Knitting

The sock is not getting any real amount of work on it at this time. I've hit the point in the pattern when I'm starting the shaping for the heel. It seems so long compared to the other socks I've knit but then again, it is for the hubster. The only real time I have for knitting is right before bed and I'm at a counting point in this pattern, so right before bed's not a good time for that. I need to take a bit of time and get past the heel so I can get back to basic knitting and can work on it more often.

These pictures are proof of two things. First, Abbie will do anything if I will just lock the puppy outside for awhile! As long as she gets some time under her lamp she's a happy cat! Second, I've been making progress on the sweater. I'm between 4 and 6 inches away from completing the first half of the front. In the second picture you can she the arm hole shaping decreases, and the stitch holders that are currently holding the pocket in place. I'm anxious to work on this regularly but really feel pulled in so many directions right now.

With Spring fast approaching I've got many household projects waiting as well as gardening to get going. It sure is nice to be held back a bit so that I can work on these knitting projects and spin a bit. Before you know it, it will be wool washing time again! ;)

Garden

Yep, it's begun! This is the beginning of the gardening season. We've started some flowers, herbs, and veggies in the house to be able to transplant in the garden this year. There are several things that will be planted in the garden this year as seeds. I'll be picking out some more flowers this week to start in the house for hanging baskets.

What?!! Crafting?!!!

Ok, don't get excited! I know it's been pretty craft poor around here. The spinning I have been able to squeeze in due to puppy issues (such as he loves wood and wool!!!! And the combination would probably drive him insane!) has all been done on a drop spindle and is the Carbon Superwash sample that Leah sent me with my last order. Oh yes Leah, I love it...and would love to order more, and would if it were not for a little challenge that I made to myself about using my current stash this year. I've broken that only for Mom as I didn't have all the beads I needed for her birthday present. (see below.)

The knitting I've been able to work in has just been on the ever patient hubby's sock. I've finally gotten that to a point of shaping for the heel. This is the first time I've done toe up socks so the whole heel thing feels foreign again, but it should (I hope) go faster on the second sock? (No Second Sock Syndrome, No Second Sock Syndrome, No Second Sock Syndrome......)I think I'll take a pic of it this week after Nascar knitting and post it for a general progress report. I'm hoping that I can get The Sweater out and start working on it again, but we'll see. Tucker will definitely have to be outside for that! lol

So the only completed craft this week was Mom's birthday necklace. It ended up being much simpler than I had planned, but that was only because I (0f course) modified the pattern and also used a different sizes of beads than was required in the pattern. So in reality....I didn't follow the pattern at all. lol. This is a simple right angle bead weave using 3mm pearls and 11's for the smaller ones. Its hard to see the pattern here and I do apologize for the poor quality of the picture. I was a bit rushed during photography as I finished it late the night before and had to wrap it up to give it to her. lol She really liked it and has wanted a handmade pearl necklace for awhile. I have another rope type one that I want to make for her as it's more versatile, but I'll have to plan that one out better. Being a hand crafter, she truly appreciated the hand made gifts.

Well, it's off to beddy bye for me as I just found out tomorrows an early day! Hubster has to open the store tomorrow and that means lunches and breakfast will need to be done about an hour earlier than normal. No biggie, but to bed I'll be headed now. lol

Hope everyone is doing well! This Saturday is the Scrap night at Tracie's so I should have a huge update on Sunday! ( I made many page kits today and really really hope to be productive at this gathering!) See y'all Sunday!

Update

Well to be honest with you all, there has been no crafting done in the last week. My time has been split between "new puppy" duties and regular house and work routines. No complaints here. I know that the puppy phase of his life will pass all to quickly and I'll wish for the puppy breath, sleepy lap times and puppy play all too soon. Eventually he'll grow into his position in the family and move outdoors permanantly and I'll wish he was a baby again. It's been so long since we had a puppy that I forgot some of the things that go along with it. Such as needle sharp teeth, constant attention needed on what he's doing and what a complete time vaccume they are! lol

I did pick up Don's sock to work on it during "nap time" last Thursday, only to discover 6 rows later that I had a) measured wrong and had started the pattern change 1" early and b) had somehow incorporated a yarn over 6 rows previous causing a hole in the sock. So I spent the remainder of that days knitting....unknitting. Fun. I'm back where I was, only then realizing that I have new puppy brain and cannot multi-task in four directions. heheh Oh well. I have not worked on The Sweater since Pup came home as the dog crate is blocking the closet door that hides the craft stuff. ;) It's time will come. I've not had any real knitting time to work on it any way...so no biggie. (Ok, I've had knitting time....I've just been using it on "cute-little-puppy-needs-to-be-played-with-and-cuddled" time. If you could see him in person, you'd understand. I even find it hard to wedge blogging time in! I have many pictures prepped for the blog and have not found the time to get the posts done. lol I fear this will only increase as the gardening season takes over. (I have visions of rainy spring and summer days being spent catching up on my blogs and not spent on the coveted spinning or knitting. lol)

Puppy has a name, but I'll save that for the next post. I have a puppy goal in mind that will be explained in the next post.

SSK-Cross Post 01/16/07

In further explaination of the following, the Selfish Sunday Knitters' list is showing scarves they have made for themselves. What follows is a copy of my post on 01/16/07 on that blog as I am too lazy and time starved to edit it to seem fresh for this blog. lol Really, it seemed like a fine post at the time. ;)

You all are doing so wonderfully!! I have no scarves made for myself to snap pics of and post here. I have a few commercially made ones that I use occasionally and one that Mom made me last year on my Niddy Noddy. That one's gotten some use this year as we've had an unusually cold fall/winter so far. I have yet to make one for myself as the sweater looms so largely in my life. lol. OK, to be honest, I've avoided it for a month and worked on other selfish items. lol Every time I would pick it up I would knit a row and want to do something else. Then I'd pick up the hubster's sock, and wish I was working on something else! Finally I accomplished something in beading, then in beaded crochet***, so the knitting started clicking again. Thusly (yes I know it's not a word....I used spell check! lol!) I present you with progress pictures of the left front side of the sweater. (I tell you, it kept me up late one knight until I figured out what the pattern meant and that the sewing up of the inside of the pocket happens dead last!!!) So this pic shows you the front pocket folded down as I haven't quite reached the point of joining those two needles yet. (The red needle stitches are on hold until the blue needle stitches have caught up...then they will join in wedded happiness on ONE needle! Yes, you experienced knitters probably understood that to begin with....but this is my first large knitted project. I was terribly confused. I was really starting to wonder if I should pick out more decorative stitch holders for the future. lol)
This shows the pieces laid out over each other as they are meant to be. Due to the magic of photography, variegated and bucille yarn and crappy lighting it looks seamless. Pretty cool huh?! I know, many work for years to obtain this seamless-ness. lol
I do find that I am mentally pushing myself to finish hubster's socks so I can cast on my own. He's waiting ever so patiently for his..lol. And I'm pulled to work on the crocheted bag for my spinning wheel. But then again, I need to work on the border for the crocheted afghan so I can cross that off the WIP list and move it to a FO list. I've not touched it since finishing the center of it. Of course, if I ever finish these items I'll have to modify the personal blog and install the Finished Objects list. Hmm...I've not figured out what I want that to look like exactly yet so I better hold off. lol
***Check out my personal blog for posts on these projects!