Rock the Casbah

Pattern: Basic Sock
Materials: Handmaiden Fine Yarn Casbah Sock in Ebony
Amount: 1 Hank (355 yards)
Needles: 2.5mm
Start Date: July 9, 2008 (I think)
Finish Date: August 9, 2008 (I think)

This yarn is WONDERFUL! If you have a chance, I would highly recommend picking up a hank and making yourself some socks. Who doesn’t want a little (or a lot) of cashmere on their feet? The colors are rich and beautiful in each hank of yarn made up of 80% Merino, 10% Cashmere, 10% Nylon.

The yardage is the only issue that I have with this yarn. It is a decent yardage, but since my feet are large (size 9 – 10 depending on the shoe) and I like about 6-7” from cuff to start of heel flap, I opted for a basic plain sock. If I had tried to make a sock with a stitch pattern, I would have had to severely shorten the cuff/leg. It made for nice mindless knitting. I thought about calling these my DMV socks. I process DMV paperwork for two different car dealerships and I have a standing Thursday appointment at the local DMV office where sometimes I am waiting for long periods of time for my turn. My appointments are an hour long also, so that gives me some good knitting time; not to mention stress relieving due to the nature of DMV.

For these socks, I cast on 68 sts, knit 2x2 ribbing for 1”. The 68 sts is because I have thick calves, I decreased 4 sts at the top of my ankle so that it would not be baggy. I opted for a slip stitch heel flap and when I got to the gusset decreases, I decreased down to 64 stitches on the foot, and fished with a standard toe.

I have knit several socks; these are the MOST comfortable socks that I have made hands down. There are a couple more hanks of this yarn in my stash (they are not listed on my stash page on Ravelry) and I am looking forward to knitting them up to add to my collection of socks.

And I must give a huge Congratulation to my friend Janice Kang (bogiebogie) for her new sock design Baroque in the Fall 2008 Knitty. Janice is a fantastic designer/knitter and I am glad that I get to hang out with her at social knitting and especially Stitches West every year because she finds all the great stuff! Right Janice?? Oh and rumor has it, she can sing backup vocals pretty good too! :)

Yarn, Giants, Tigers

My boss offered me the companies Club Level seats to the Giants vs Padres game Saturday and of course I was happy to accept. I rounded up some friends, we set the time to leave and off we went. Karol, Erin, Betsy (Erin's mom) and I all took the Cal Train up to Millbrae, transferred on to the BART to go into San Francisco. I know you are asking, why would they transfer on to the BART if they are going to the Giants game...cause we went to Artfibers first silly!

I saw the most beautiful brownish/bronze color in the Satori yarn. It looked beautiful knitted up, but not sure it the color would really be flattering on me. So I took my little swatch with me to ponder the color choice.

Then we headed out to the game, got food and drinks (I had a margarita or maybe two.) Knitting, food, drinks, sunny day at the ballpark, it was great!

My uncle, aunt and mom were at the game too, they had seats only one section away and we met up with them after the game for a short visit.

Me, Uncle Kevin and Aunt Barbi

I started working on my Giants socks out of Panda Silk, they are really soft.

And I have finished the second and final project for the Ravelympics. These were originally called, We Call Them Giants, but since they are no longer going to be the socks that my boss gets for her to wear to the Giants games, I have renamed them.....

Sorry Roger, You Tiger Now!

And if you are not familiar with that tag line, here is where I got it from...

(The embedding is not working, so you will have to click on this link.)

Pattern: Hedera by Cookie A
Source: Knitty Spring 2006

Materials: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Lightweight Socks that Rock in Rocky Horror

Needles: 2.75mm Magic Loop Method

Ravelympics, Fiesta!

Pattern: Fiesta Mittens by Lucy Neatby (Ravelry)

Source: Tradewind Knitwear Design

Materials: Curious Creek Fibers Wasonga in Moon Shine and Omo in Early Sunest.
Amount: Not sure the exact amount, it was a test knit and not full hanks were supplied.

Needles: 2.0mm cuff, 2.25mm hand and 2.75mm on thumb (right hand mitten) and 2.25mm cuff, 2.5mm hand and 2.75mm thumb (left hand mitten)

Start Date: July 26, 2008

Finish Date: August 17, 2008

Funny how things just happen; I came into contact with Kristine Brooks, artist/owner of Curious Creek Fibers through a friend of a friend. We exchanged emails and the next thing you know, I was knitting for her. Curious Creek Fibers is partnering with Lucy Neatby to create kits for Lucy’s patterns and trunk show. I was given several choices of patterns to pick from and the Fiesta Mittens were one of them, you all know my love of fair isle now.

Lucy Neatby used Koigu originally and Kristine wanted to see how the pattern would work with her beautiful hand dyed creations. I think they are very nice, don’t you? She had the idea of using two different yarns in her line. The main color yarn is Wasonga, her fingering merino yarn in Moon Shine. It is a really pretty eggplant color with touches of black and pale lavender throughout. The contrast color is Omo, her fingering 4 ply silk/merino. The use of the Omo just pops beautifully.

Fiesta Mittens in Curious Creek Fibers should be made available soon as a kit; a great pattern with beautiful hand dyed yarns! Since my deadline also corresponded with the Ravelympics, this project was entered in WIP Wrestling.

Decent Day: BAD ending

Monday’s are sometimes the worst day of the week, agree? Well, yesterday was not a bad Monday until I got ready to leave work. If you don’t already know, I work at a car dealership. When you buy a car, I am the one that ensures you get registration and plates for your car, I process the DMV paperwork. It’s a job a job and pays decent. Along with that, sometimes our customers get tickets and the dealership is forced by the DMV to pay the ticket in order to complete a transfer of ownership on a vehicle, speaking strictly of a used car. So there was this customer who leased a car and when his lease was up he went ahead and bought the car out right. When I transferred the ownership of his car from the bank to him there was a parking ticket on his record and the DMV would not do the transfer unless the ticket was paid, so we paid it. I then sent the customer a letter stating that we paid the ticket and requested reimbursement from him like I have done many, many times before from other customers with the same situation. Let’s just say that he was adamant that the ticket was not his, even though he owned the car when the ticket was issued and he in not so nice words declined to pay the ticket and was getting quite worked up about it. I was very calm, believe it or not (I have a witness) and I realized that continuing this conversation was not going to be beneficial to either of us. Now, I am leaving a huge amount of dialogue out (see me for more detailed summary and facial expressions) but here is what turned a fairly decent Monday in to a crap day…

Customer: They made a mistake, I was not in _______ during the month of February and I am not going to pay the ticket.

Me: Ok, I will pass it along to my manager and you have a nice evening.

Customer: I don’t think you understand, I am not going to pay that.

Me: I do understand, have a nice evening. (still trying to end the conversation)

Customer: No, you are going to listen to me, you don’t know how to do good business, let me tell you how do to good business, you are going to listen to me or I am going to call ______ your General Manager and tell him what a horrible job you are doing, you scumbag.

Me: Excuse me! Did you just call me a scumbag?

Customer: Yes I did…

Me: (action) Slam phone receiver down and hang up on customer.

All of this over a $20 dollar parking ticket!

Hope your Monday was better than mine. Tomorrow, detail on my Ravelympic knitting event completed.

Beijing Opening Ceremonies

I had a dilemma Friday at work. My boss came by my desk waiving Club Level tickets to the Giants vs Dodger game asking me if I wanted them. Well of course I do, the company tickets to a Dodger game is damn near impossible to get. "When is it ?" I ask like a silly girl, tonight she says...ouch. The dilemma is, I love the Olympics, my knitting friends and when drinking is involved that is a trifecta...but I love going to Giants games and its even better when I have Club Level seats and they are FREE. Then I uttered the word that shocked both me and my boss, "I can't, I have plans already."

Some of the Team BobaKnit knitters gathered at the Firehouse in Sunnyvale, CA to watch the opening ceremonies and WOW what a site they were. I knew that it would be spectacular, but it was more than I had expected, even if we could not hear what was happening or the commentary. BobaKnitters in attendance were, Jeni, Teenuh, Jill, Linda, Juls, Margit, Julia, and Sheetal. There was knitting, food and of course there were drinks!

The sad thing about my knitting is the cuff of that sock was already done when I got there, I only completed 4 rounds after that. I was loving the Cosmos just a little too much to knit. Our server was fun, he had a great sense of humor. I wanted some coffee with my desert and while trying to express to him that I like a lot of cream I said to him, "I like a little coffee with my cream." I guess you should be careful of what you ask for...

Oh and since I was having too much fun and forgot to get my camera out, I totally stole these pictures from Teenuh's Flickr stream. She has other great pictures from that night on her blog. Thanks Teenuh.

In hind site, I am super glad that I passed on the baseball tickets. A good time was had by all of us watching the Beijing Opening Ceremonies and the Giants lost that night anyway, Saturdays game was better :)

Ready, Set, Cast On!!

I love the Olympics, Summer or Winter, makes no difference. Our TV will be tuned to the station with the games everyday. The 1984 Los Angeles Olympics I was 12 years old, I stayed with my grandparents in the San Fernando Valley and they took me to see the torch go by on its route. I took pictures (that I can't find at the moment) and it was memorable to watch.

And now that I knit, I am participating in the Ravelympics this year. You must cast on a project during the Opening Ceremonies of the Summer Olympics (Aug. 8)- and finish before the Olympic flame goes out (Aug. 24). That’s 17 days. I have joined Team Bobaknit and entered two events, Sockput ( knit a pair of socks) and WIP Wrestling (finish a project that is already underway.)

Tonight our team is gathering at the Firehouse in Sunnyvale, CA to watch the Opening Ceremonies together and root each other on as we knit to the finish line!

What are you event are you knitting in and what is the project?

A moment of weakness

I just have to put it out there, it is all Irishgirlieknits fault. I was reading her blog late last night thinking I am going to be reading all about her trip to Sea World and then at the bottom of the blog post she goes and mentions that Sundara opened up her Seasons Club. I have been wanting to purchase Sundara yarn for some time now, I just got paid, I was home alone, enough said. I chose the Winter season, it suits me best and I can't wait for my first shipment. Thanks Carrie!!

Things in which I did not knit...

Last Friday I went to lunch as usual and when I came back I found a package on my desk, happy surprises!! When I opened it this is what I found…

My friend in Texas, Twisted Knitter, sent me this beautifully hand knit drawstring bag. I was so shocked and happy. And as if that was not enough of a gift, I found my second surprise…

She put a center pull wound ball of a beautiful red fingering weight yarn, she knows me well. Janet (Janet Ravelry Link) is a wonderful knitter and is truly inspirational. She is on a blog vacation at the moment, so it gives you time to browse her archives and see the beautiful things she makes.

And the gifts keep on coming. Saturday night I attended an anniversary party of one of the owners of Purlescence Yarns where I received my birthday gift, a pair of hand knit socks. December is my birthday month and when we were in the shop chatting I had mentioned that I have never had anyone knit me anything. So the Purl Girls decided that as my birthday gift they were going to knit me my Notre Dame socks (they know me well too.) Kaye (Kaye Ravelry Link) did the lion share of the knitting with a stunt knitter, Jasmin (Jasmin Ravelry Link) to complete the toes. While we were all around celebrating the anniversary Jasmin was finishing the toe on the last sock and I got to take them home. So I am all ready for the new football season with my beautiful birthday/Nortre Dame socks.

So may I suggest, knit another knitter friend something, anything, they will love you for it!

Oak-Town Adventure

Sunday my knitting friend Karol and I took an adventure to Oakland. Our mission, go to Article Pract, shop yarn and meet Kristine Brooks of Curious Creek Fibers. We drove to Fremont and took the BART to the MacArthur Station in Oakland then walked a little over a half a mile to Article Pract. The was was amusing in itself. Lots to see and umm, comment on.

Article Pract has lots of lovely yarns in every fiber known to man. They have lots of beautifully knit samples for you to get inspiration. If you don't look carefully, you will miss some of their inventory, it is literally stacked floor to ceiling, baskets and cubbies, racks and rods. The only down side for me was there was not an area for you to sit and knit. For people that make a little trip, I would think it would be nice to be able to stay and knit also. To be honest, I would probably have bought more yarn if I was able to relax, knit and chat. But I did manage to bring these beauties home with me, ShibuiKnits sock yarn that to my knowledge, none of my LYS carry, so score for me!

After the yarn purchasing took place, I went into the back where they hold their classes to meet Kristine of Curious Creek Fibers. Kristine was in town from San Diego to teach a class and I am doing some sample/test knitting for her with her yarns. I got the package she sent me with the yarn and pattern on Saturday...

And on Sunday, I brought this to show her...

Fiesta Mittens by Lucy Neatby. (Ravelry link) She approved. It was nice for the both of us to put a name to a face.

After the yarn store, Karol and I went to a coffee shop a couple of doors down, got a beverage and a cookie, knit and people watched. The BART train back was, well, interesting! We encountered a man that was having a difficult time getting information on his phone and kept arguing with a recording as if it was a live person. If you see me, I will go into more detail, lets just say I had tears in my eyes, not from crying though.

Its all about the caramel corn...

This past Tuesday night, July 22, was the Stitch n Pitch night at the San Francisco Giants game. I had not originally intended to go this year, even though last year was a memorable night, see here. But the day before, my boss asked me if I wanted our companies season tickets on the club level of the stadium.....OF COURSE I DO. So I made contact with knitters that I knew didn't get tickets to the event, Karol (Rav link), Jill and Teenuh. Jill works in the city, so Teenuh, Karol and I took the train up and meet her there. Teenuh has a much better recap of the whole event.

But the best thing about the Giants game is the fresh hand tossed caramel corn that you can ONLY get on the club level. I have been fortunate in the past to get tickets to the games and made attempts to include my good friend Nathania but it never worked out. So she had to hear about this caramel corn from others. Well Tuesday night she got her caramel corn thanks to my club level seats. I bought the corn, took the elevator up to the 5th floor and meet her out in the concessions area of her section.

I went back to where she and the other knitters were sitting to wave hello and then took my happy ass back to my club seat!

The weather this year was much better than last year, the Giants beat the Nationals 6-3 and it was a great night with good friends.

Relayed out and the winner!

I am almost recovered from the Relay for Life event over the past weekend. It was a great event, I was happy to see such a great turn out for support of the American Cancer Society. I am most appreciative of all the people that supported my efforts in knitting caps and monetary donations. I blew it and did not get any good pics to share with you of the entire site with the Luminaria's all lit up, trust me when I say, it was a beautiful site. I stayed out at the relay all night to the ending ceremonies on Sunday and there were lots of people walking in the wee hours of the morning. If you have never been to one of these events, I recommend going, you don't have to be apart of a team to participate. Check out their website to find an event close to you. Here are a couple of pics that I did manage to take of our little space.

And now what you all have been waiting for... The lucky name drawn is Kristin Leamy!! Congratulations Kristin, I will be contacting you to see which yarn you would like and thank you for your support!



A little knitting progress other than hats and such has occurred. I have breathed new life into my Carbon Copy Monkeys. I went up a needle size, changed the heel flap type and I believe this time I will be successful. I am about to turn the heel so we will see!

Last Chance Effort and Yarn Giveaway

This is my last chance fundraising effort. I am participating this weekend in the Relay for Life in Campbell, CA. Relay For Life is a 24-hour event whose mission is to raise money which will be used towards research, education, and programs which support those undergoing cancer treatment. I have committed to raising $500 for the event, I am close but with your help, I can meet and or exceed this goal.

My father died of lung cancer in 1992 when I was 20 years old and my mother is a two time ovarian cancer survivor. I know first hand the struggles of those with cancer and those friends and family members that are there to care for them. This cause is close to my heart in many ways. Cancer is life altering and we all know someone who is or has been affected by this disease.

One way of supporting the event is the purchase of a Luminaria. As the light dims over campsites and team member’s complete laps, the night is brightened by the glow of lighted bags called luminaria, each of which has a special meaning. You can honor a cancer survivor by placing their name under "In Honor of," or you can remember someone who was lost to cancer by placing the name under "In Memory of." Each individual’s name will appear on a luminaria and each will be lit at the ceremony to shine as a beacon of hope for others. You also have the option to send an e-card to inform family members and friends of your special gift. To purchase the Luminaria or make a straight dontaion click on this link.

Anyone that comments to this post AND makes a donation, I will pick one random winner and give them a choice of a hank of either Blue Moon Fiber Arts or Malabrigo. Go ahead and make a donation, help the American Cancer Society and possibly get some yarn!!
EDIT: THIS WILL CLOSE ON SATURDAY JULY 12TH 2008 AT 8AM PST

Parade of Socks

Long time, no post. I have been away a bit for 3 good reasons.

Reason 1:

Reason 2:

I kept my niece and nephew. We had a grand time! We went to the Oakland Zoo, Chuckie Cheese, the drive-in movie theater to see Wall-E and a couple of parks for play time. To see photos if you are interested, you can view them here.

Reason 3:

I have been working a TON of hours and I then took ill. Come to find out, I have/had a sinus infection and ear infection. But I am on the mend, got my antibiotics and all is getting right in my world.

Now, on with the important stuff - knitting content.

Here are some photos of socks that I have completed and never posted about. Sensei's House Socks knit with Dream in Color Classy in the Cocoa Kiss colorway. I knit them on a US5 using a 3x1 ribbing. Ravelry Details.

And these are my Torrey Pines/Buick Open Socks. I knit these while watching Tiger Woods play in the Buick Open at Torrey Pines on our trip to San Diego. They are knit with Socks that Rock in the Ravenscroft colorway. This is my plain basic sock pattern knit on 2.5mm needles. Unfortunately, I got lots of wear on these prior to taking proper blog pictures, please excuse the slight felting on the soles. Ravelry Details.

And finally, my Lucky Green Socks, well at least I hope they will be! I started them a long time ago and never finished them. While I was in bed sick all weekend I decided that it was time to finish them; besides, I only had half of the second one to complete. The yarn is Dream in Color Smooshy in the Happy Forest colorway (I think.) The pattern is Corded Rib from Sensational Knitted Socks. Ravelry Details.

On a totally sad note, I had to frog my latest sock, Carbon Copy Monkey, because it was too small. There is a funny unattractive photo of me frogging the sock that will not be shared here. Trust me, it is funny but much more unattractive. However, every time I call Teenuh it pops up on her iPhone, gives her a laugh. Cookie gave me a tip on fixing my too small issue, I will be casting back on soon!

2nd Knitiversary

July 1st was my actual Knitiversary, but I was WAY to busy at work to post about it, so it is a day late (just like most things in my life.) In honor of my 2nd Knitiversary, I thought that I would do the following knitting meme to see all that I have accomplished in 2 years.



1) Bold things you’ve done
2) Green thing you are currently doing
3) Red out things you’ve abandoned or will never attempt
4) Italicize things you want to try

Afghan
American/English knitting (as opposed to continental)
Baby items
Bobbles
Button holes
Cable stitch patterns (incl. Aran)
Cardigan
Charity knitting
Continental knitting
Cuffs/fingerless mitts/arm warmers
Darning
Designing knitted garments
Domino knitting (modular knitting)
Drop stitch patterns
Dyeing with plant colors
Dyeing yarn
Entrelac
Fair Isle knitting
Freeform knitting
Fulling/felting
Gloves
Graffiti knitting (knitting items on, or to be left on the street)
Hair accessories
Hat
Holiday related knitting
Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cozies…)
I-cord
Intarsia
Jewelry
Kitchener
BO
Knitting a gift
Knitting and purling backwards
Knitting for a living
Knitting for pets
Knitting for preemies
Knitting in public
Knitting items for a wedding
Knitting socks
Knitting to make money
Lace patterns
Long Tail CO
Machine knitting
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Moebius band knitting
Norwegian knitting
Olympic knitting
Participating in a KAL
Pillows
Publishing a knitting book
Purses/bags
Rug
Scarf
Shawl
Short rows
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Slip stitch patterns
Slippers
Socks: toe-up
Socks: top-down
Steeks
Stockinette stitch
Stuffed toys
Swatching
Sweater
Teaching a child to knit
Teaching a male how to knit
Textured knitting
Thrummed knitting
Toy/doll clothing
Tubular CO
Twisted stitch patterns
Two end knitting
Writing a pattern

Our Dogs are better than yours!!

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Notre Dame Fighting Irish, but I have to give props to my hometown boys, Fresno State Bulldogs. They just won the 2008 College World Series beating the Georgia Bulldogs 6-1. When I grew up in the Central Valley I had went to many baseball games and to see them now win the College World Series, their first national title, that is fantastic. I may now live in San Jose, but my home is Fresno.

Not a fan...

Before anyone decides to post bad comments regarding this post, let me just say, to each is own and I respect peoples love for certain things in their lives. But I am putting it on record that I am not a fan of the color Orange. Never have, never will. I don't own anything orange, it is not a flattering color to me at all. Many people have knitted beautiful projects with different variations of orange colored yarn. One person in particular I can think of is my friend in Texas, Twisted Knitter. She did the Irish Hiking Scarf in an orange colored yarn, looks great, for her; me not so much. So a true test of friendship is when you ask me to knit orange colored yarn.

Granted it was just some finishing work, but still, it was ORANGE. Actually, it was Texas Longhorn Burnt Orange color and you will see it knit up in a book sometime next year. Only for YOU (you know who you are.)

But I have devised a list of 10 things in random order that are orange in color that I do like so you can see that I am only prejudice to the color...

1. Oranges (the fruit)
2. Gerber Daisy
3. Golden Gate Bridge (yes it is orange!)
4. Orange Bell Peppers
5. Pumpkins
6. Thai Tea
7. Chloe and Eddie's Honda Element
8. Koi
9. Sun Setting
10. Clown Fish (Nemo)

So tell me, what color do you not like to knit?

Relay for Life

A knitter friend of mine put together a team called Cap Off Cancer to participate in the Relay for Life, an event supporting the American Cancer Society. I have two very personal reasons why I decided to participate, my parents.

Dad passed away from lung cancer in 1992 when I was 20 years old and my mother is a two time ovarian cancer survivor and is currently in remission.

Cancer is something that has altered my life significantly as it does to many many others. So I am doing my part in the fight against cancer by joining the Cap Off Caner team in the Relay for Life event July 12-13, 2008 in Campbell, CA. Here is my event page for more information if you would like to make a donation, purchase a Luminaria in memoriam or in honor of someone special or donate a chemo cap. Also, you can contact me with any questions.

National Bring Your Dog to Work Day

Today is National Bring Your Dog to Work Day, so I brought Mugsy with me to work. I was watching the Today show this morning and they made the announcement so I grabbed my phone and text message my boss and asked permission, she said yes. She is the greatest boss EVAR!! I just wish that we could have our pooches at work more offen, makes for a fun place to work.

Mugsy at Mazda

Making good on a gift

This post is to inform you all that I am still alive and there has been some knitting going on too. For about 3 weeks now, I have been working 10-12 hour days six days a week. Why all the hours? Well, I am sort of behind at work for one and two, the dealership group that I work for, they are consolidating all four accounting offices into one location. With that said, part of my work is going to be handed off to another person and I will be doing more of one specific part of my job. So in preparation for the move, I have been working long hours to make everything go as smooth as possible. July will be a much better month, I can feel it!

As for knitting content, I am making good on a long awaited present. Let me give you some background. The first Christmas that I knew how to knit (2 seasons ago) I was on a felting spree. I made a pair of Felted Clogs (Ravelry link or blog link) for my Grandmother. Well, I stupidly while making the first pair, said that I could make Sensei's dad a pair for Christmas too. What I didn't know when I opened my big mouth was that I would come to HATE that pattern. I mean they are great once they are done, but the whole knitting experience is horrible. I made only one of his dad's clog/slippers and never did the other one. In fact, I don't even know where the first knitted one is at the moment it has been that long. Needless to say, Sensei has pretty much never let me forget that I was knitting his dad something which never was completed, every chance he got. So with the up coming Father's Day, I decided to make good on a knitted gift, but NOT clog/slippers!!

So here is a basic knitted vest using Ann Budds The Knitter's Book of Handy Patterns.

Ravelry details here. I LOVE this book and Ann Budds The Knitter's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns. They have been so useful in my knitting projects, I highly recommend them.

Pattern: Basic Vest Pattern

Source: The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns by Ann Budd

Size: 44" Chest Circumference

Materials: Cascade 220 Heathers 2427

Amount: 4 hanks heather brick red colorway 2427

Started: June 2008

Finished: June 2008

Ok Sensei, it is time to let it go now. No more felted slipper comments comments or I will be forced to post the picture of you wearing my fuzzy pink slippers!

Aint gunna dew it...

This coming July will be 2 years since I learned how to knit. And while I have learned to surround myself with talented knitters it seems that many of them are talented spinners too. All the while I have been watching knitters taking the plunge into spinning. I kept stating that spinning is not in my future, I needed to learn everything about knitting before I learned to spin. And honestly I thought that excuse would work. It started with, I have not complete a sweater, done-I have not learned cables, done-I have to learn to steek, done-I need to learn fair isle, done-need to learn sock, done-I need to learn lace knitting, in progress. Now I realize that is not "everything" about knitting, but you get what I mean.

So I finally made it to Mary's (mother to knitters starting spinning) monthly spin-in. I toodled in there with my plate of Snickerdoodles and my knitting bag with 2 current projects and found a comfy chair and started knitting. And then Mary said, "I am using my drop spindle, my wheel is free, LISA" nudge nudge. Well she didn't have to twist my arm that hard actually. Prior to this day, Sensei said to me that he would buy me a spinning wheel but that I had to learn to spin a bit before he bought the wheel. I found that to be a reasonable request since wheels are not cheap.

Into the fiber stash Mary and I went and we pulled out this fiber.

While Mary was untangling some singles that she was plying, Janice (another fabulous knitter/spinner) got me started. I learn some lingo, but the phrase I heard the most was, "DON"T LET GO" She was referring to my back hand while trying to draft and when I stopped treadling cause I had to much twist I would let go with my back hand. Anyway, all I can say is that it is a real learning process, one of which I am still willing to learn, Mary and Janice were great to help me get my feet wet.

So let me show you what I made, now you can't laugh, it was my first and I know I will get better when I learn to draft better.

Now the funniest thing that was said was this morning several hours after my foray in to spinning. Sensei and I were cuddling this morning talking about our up coming week and things we need to do and our future together and he says, " When we have our children and they bring home some drawing they did in pre-school and it looks like a mess, what are you going to say to them?" I of course replied that I would praise them and tell them how beautiful it was. Without skipping a beat he said, "Baby, your yarn you spun is really beautiful" We started to laugh so hard I almost peed my pants!

Too many projects

Having issues with starting to many projects, I know that I am not the only one. If you are a knitter and reading this, then I would be what my dad would say, "Singing to the choir!"

I have several on the needles at the moment, then I remember that it is so and so's birthday coming and I should whip something up real quick for that (yeah right!) Or I promised this to that person a year ago! I have a lot of IOU's out there and I am excited to get them complete and hand them off. The real issue is me, stumbling across patterns like this...

This is Elijah (Ravelry link) by Ysolda Teague. Isn't he adorable? I could not resist him! And then I get to chatting with my friends about what they are knitting, I get so wrapped up in wanting to do a mini-KAL with them on their current project. I spent hours trying to research the right yarn for the project, chatting online bouncing ideas off friends about yarn choices, because no matter how big your stash is, you never have the right yarn, right? Or is that just me?

So this is a line up of what I have in my knitting bag at the moment, they are all gifts that I am trying to complete by the end of June. Now I have to just stay off Ravelry and not open another knitting magazine and I just might stay focused!

I am sort of proud of my stitch tension on this cotton and linen number. Cotton is hard for me to maintain good tension and not row out.

This is my Elijah and he will be going to my nephew, I can reveal that cause he is 4 and does not read my blog, I am pretty sure of it!

Oh and lets not forget this one, another gift project, so no real details to be handed out. I am further along on this project than what the picture is showing. It is steadily going, I just have not taken a recent photo.

Have a happy and safe Memorial Day Weekend. If you have a US Flag, please remember to fly it at half-staff to commemorate U.S. men and women who have died in military service to our country. Regardless of your feeling about the current war, we should honor those who have fallen to defend our rights during any war.