Fiber Confusion

I was planning on showing you my finished and blocked Pei today but I opted to go out to dinner and knit with my bestie instead of blocking.  I worked on the sock but got kinda bored.  So I pulled my fiber back out.

I finished spinning the first bobbin and am ready to start on the second bobbin.  I would love to finish the spinning tonight (probably won't happen - it's cleaning night for me before the weekend) and ply Friday.  I guess ya gotta start with a plan, right?

It was a gradient and I am trying to keep it that way when I ply it.  I have no knitting plans for it yet.  We shall see when it's done.

I am trying to come up with a plan for this.

I bought it with thoughts of weaving it into a scarf last year but I can't seem to find my weaving mojo lately.  I just get more enjoyment out of knitting.  I have a few pink things that it would go with. I only have one skein so my plan today is to jump on Ravelry and see what I can come up with.

So, I'm kinda scattered with my fiber.  Ideas flying all over and can't settle on one thing!

Yarn Along

My Pei is complete but needs blocking.  That's on tonight's agenda.  My challenge with that is the cat likes to sit on all my knitting that is blocking.  I'm afraid she will knock it over (along with the pins) and the dog will eat the pins.  So I think I might block it in my daughters room somehow.

In the meantime I really wasn't sure what I wanted to work on next. I have my Jacob fleece that I spun (I think I still have more to card and spin now that I think about it) and I had a vision of making a huge chunky over-sized cowl.  I bought this pattern. I think it will work.  I'm not sure what to do about the color changes though.

I have a lot more white than I do brown.  I will have to think about it a little longer.  In the meantime there are always socks.

I feel like I have been working on these forever.  Probably it's the size 1 needles.

And I have some dyeing ideas spinning around in my head.  And I really want to spin this weekend.  And I think I may run out of time.....

Joining Ginny as always on a Wednesday.

10 On Tuesday

This week's 10 On Tuesday was a simple one for me.  My family has this conversation often, and hey - you just never know...

10 Things I'd Do If I Won the Big Powerball Jackpot

1.  Call my attorney.  Pronto.  The next phone call would be to my step-mom who would do the investing for me, since that's what she does for a living.
2.  I'm not terribly attached to my house, and we still have a lot of work to do to it, so I'm thinking I would sell it and buy another one.  With a huge garage for hubby, lots of land for the dog (and the rest of the critters I would probably get), a separate apartment for Nicole, and a fiber studio for me.
3.  Give to my family.  I would want my parents to be able to retire (my dad already is, my mom, step-mom and step-dad all still work).  I would make sure they had enough money to do that and enjoy life.  We would do the same for my in-laws of course and my aunt and uncle.
4.  Of course I would take care of Nicole.  College would be paid for and a trust would be set up for her when she reaches a certain age.
5.  Research the charities that I would want to support, or perhaps found my own.
6.  While I would quit my job, although I love it, I could do without the daily stress.  I would probably start my own business (fiber related for sure).  At least I could control the stress if it's my own.  I just don't ever picture myself NOT going to work.  I would only have to be there part time, because I could hire all the help I need.  And I'm sure finding some friends employees wouldn't be difficult.
7.  Buy a motor home.  I would love to pack everybody up and head west and explore that part of the country.
8.  New cars for all.  I don't really have a dream car.  I seemed to have lost that gene, much to my father's dismay.
9.  There would lots of travel.  Italy and Hawaii would be at the top of the list.
10.  I might even need to buy a vacation home or two in those places.

Weekending

the weekend was full and fun 

exactly the way I like it

I got to knit on my Pei

we tried a new restaurant in Providence called Louies (small but fun place)

watched the cat and dog learn how to share their home together

tried new recipes

took some walks on Sunday when it became bearable

it's the start of Holy Week

and I can't believe Easter Sunday is almost here

I'm looking forward to the week ahead

How Did I Do That?

I have been making an attempt to update my Ravelry page a little more often.  I downloaded the "Yarma" app onto my iPhone,  which makes it easier to put the pictures of your projects up.  I was doing some Rav updating yesterday and I realized that I never did a blog post on my completed Crosswords at The Coffee Shop shawlette.  

This has by far, been  my favorite project of 2013.  I loved the way my yarn came out.  It is so soft.  I even bought some more in a different colorway from Corgi Hill Farm. It feels great next to the skin.

What I find hilarious is that I was in such a rush to get pictures of the finished object so I could post them (it was a cold, grey day out - but hey, what else is new?).  And I totally forgot. 

It looked great after it was blocked.  The pattern really stood out.

And not am I totally in love with the colors, I love the way they change.

I know I will be making this again. I have been getting lots of use out of it on my walks with Mowgli lately.  Now let me go back on Ravelry and see what else I forgot to blog about....

Yarn Along

I debated even doing a Yarn Along post today.  I haven't gotten much knitting done since the weekend.  Monday I was tired and cold.  And yesterday I was just so darn cold that my left hand was hurting.  I thought giving the hands a break for the night would be a good idea.  But I did make a tiny bit of progress, so here ya go.

It's hard to really see the pattern because it keeps rolling up.  I'm sure a good blocking will fix that.  I tried to roll it out a bit but I don't think it helped to get the picture.

Nicole has a chorus concert at school tonight so I'm hoping to maybe get some work done on it there.  I'm not sure if I will be able to follow a pattern and keep the iPad on though so I may have to resort to some sock knitting.

Reading - mostly forums on dog training.  Mowgli had his first class yesterday and did fairly well.  I love the trainer and she adores Mowgli.  I think this will be a good fit.

So what's on your needles these days?

10 on Tuesday

Ha ha!  Love this one....

10 Random Things on My Mind

1.  OK - seriously....  when the HELL is Spring getting here.  Woke up to more snow sleet and rain this morning.  Not fun to walk the dog in.
2.  We have our first puppy training class tonight.  I am hoping Mowgli will grasp it.  He is smart but stubborn.
3.  We still have to go shopping for Nicole's prom dress.  Fitting that in on the weekends has been tough.  Maybe we will have some luck this weekend.
4.  My car is a mess - I can't wait to get it cleaned but I refuse until there is no more threat of salt and sand getting inside.
5.  We are waiting for the Summer Schedule to be posted for Nicole for college.  She wants to start as soon as she graduates high school at the local community college (she will be there for 3 years for nursing before transferring to UMass Dartmouth for nursing).  It's hard to make summer vacation plans until we get that nailed down.
6.  We need to finish our tax returns.  Yuck.
7.  I haven't been on Plurk in forever.  I just don't have time for it all lately.
8.  RI Spinners Guild (Iris in particular) posted a list of all the fiber events coming up and I can't believe we are almost up to that time of year (Yippeee!)
9.  I started my Pei Scarf over the weekend.  I hope to stay awake long enough tonight to work on it.
10. I need to go clean out my closet and start switching some clothes around  for various reasons.  I should probably wait till June when I can actually put the winter clothes away.

Weekending

A belated Happy St. Patrick's Day to everyone!

we spent the St. Patty's weekend
cooking the usual Irish foods - corned beef and cabbage and Irish soda bread
which both come out pretty good considering none of us has any Irish blood in them at all
I guess I wouldn't know about the corned beef though - I don't eat it (teeheehee)
friends came to visit
Friday night was a wonderful fund raiser that Nicole sang for
some shopping was done
Mowgli went to puppy playtime at Petco
and apparently likes to go yarn shopping (Michaels Arts & Crafts invited him in the store)
and now a new week is upon us

How was your weekend?

Looking Beyond Socks

Now that I'm in the homestretch in the gift knitting department I can start getting selfish again and jump into my Rav queue.  My first choice is to spin the new Sheep to Shoe Kit I just received from Blue Moon Fiber Arts.  However, with new puppy around I'm not sure how the spinning is going to go.  With that in mind, I looked in the stash and wound this up.

With spring coming I am feeling the call of bright cheerful colors.

It was one of my Loop Batts that I spun last summer.  I loved it when I finished but I had no idea what I wanted to make with it.  Then I found Pei by Michelle Wang and knew it was a match.  So that is the plan for the weekend.  But you know how plans go.....

Yarn Along

I didn't forget about my beloved blog.  We have been trying to settle into a different schedule with the new family member and blogging kinda fell towards the bottom of the list.

But there has been some knitting.  I am working on the second pair of gift socks.  A simple picot edge sock with some of my hand dyed yarn.  This yarn has been several frogged projects but this is the winner.

I am big fan of pooling.  And I got it to pool exactly the same way on both socks so far.  Don't ask how I did it.  I won't ever be able to duplicate it.

I have a feeling the matching pool will end when I get to the rest of the sock, but it's OK.  I love that the ankles  match.  After this I am working on another project with my hand spun yarn.  I might even have a blog post on it tomorrow.

And for some added cuteness, here's my office helper today.

Joining Ginny as always.

Happy Wednesday!

Weekending

It was an exciting weekend around our house.
For my Instagram and Facebook friends, you already heard the news

We have an addition to our family
An addition of the furry kind

Stats:
8 weeks old
Part Black Lab, part Golden Retriever
Answers to the name of Mowgli (well, we are  hoping he will one day soon)
Loves to snuggle and kiss
Now has a new best friend of the feline variety (they are inseparable)

You can be sure there will be more pictures to come

Hope you all had a fun weekend!

Circle Socks

On my last trip to WEBS back in December of 2011 I bought my favorite sock yarn, Socks That Rock.

There's my sweet boy modeling it for  me.  I can't believe he's been gone over a year already.  Anyway, I fell in love with this skein.  It sat in the stash until June till I decided to make "Circle Socks".  I finished the first one and kinda liked it.  I could have made it a bit smaller, but it still fit.  And then I never cast on for the second sock.  And I really just forgot about it.  You see, when I knit socks I don't like to think much.  This pattern calls for a bit of thinking (although really not much) and I didn't feel like doing it.  Last month I was going through my basket of projects and found them.  So I finished them.

I have to tell you - they have just been elevated to my favorite pair of socks.  As big as they look, they fit perfect.  And they are so comfortable!

I love the pattern and how it can be worn either low down the ankle or raised up the calf in case your legs get cold.

So I will definitely be knitting these again.  I'll use STR as well.  Hmmm.... guess I'll have to make a trip to WEBS. What a bummer.