Are You Getting Phat?

This is probably one of the few times in life where the preferred answer to that question is a resounding "yes!" I'm not talking about putting on a few pounds (that's a whole other conversation). I'm talking about the amazing new Phat Fiber sample boxes.

I'm a little reluctant to share this secret, since there are a limited number of these boxes available each month (it's a bit like finding a store that sells cashmere at $2 a skein --- how many other people do you really want to know about that?). But, in the interest of helping a fiber-related business to grow, and just because I can't keep a bargain to myself... here you go.

Phat Fiber is a fabulous idea. It's actually hard to believe no one has thought of it before now. Jessie works with a variety of indie fiber artists to assemble a bunch of very generous samples each month and creates individual boxes on either a yarn or fiber theme. Each box is chock full of fiber samples (only in the fiber box, obviously), samples of handspun and/or hand dyed yarn, a bit of candy, a stitch marker or two, perhaps a fancy button or a shawl pin, a pattern or two, or maybe a complete back issue of a knitting magazine. All of this for just $33, including shipping!

In my February box, I had at least 6 or 7 samples of fiber (I forgot to count because I started spinning too fast!). They were all at least a quarter ounce (some more), and spun up to a skein of 20 - 30 yards. I also had a number of sample skeins of various yarns (some handspun), an indie knitting magazine, some fudge, a stick pin, a couple of stitch markers, a kit for making felted beads, a chocolate-coated spoon for my coffee, and a pattern for pasties (how did I survive until now without those!). It also comes with lots of discounts for the vendors who participated.

Once I spun everything up, I was unsure of what to do with all the mini-skeins I'd created. Finally I hit on the idea of making a ten-stitch blanket. It actually varies from 10 to 20 stitches, depending on the thickness of the yarn I'm using at the time. It does take a little adjustment of needles and numbers of stitches to accommodate the various weights of yarn, but nothing too challenging. And, since the colors in the February box were mostly Valentine-themed, it's easy to create pretty transitions from one to the other.

All of this would be much more interesting with some pictures, I know. Unfortunately, my camera is still with the police. I'm hopeful that we'll hear something this week. Slowly but surely, things are getting back to normal around here, although it's till a bit weird at times to think of a stranger going through all our personal things. Many thanks to all who posted and emailed your support. It really helped.

You're Gonna Need a Good Imagination for a While

No pictures here for a while. You see, my home was broken into last week. They caught the guy (in my bathroom) and, we think, retrieved most of our stuff (although you know if you've ever been robbed that it's almost impossible to know what's missing until that day in the future when you look for something that isn't there). The unfortunate thing is that many of our things are now evidence (as in "locked up at police headquarters"). That includes my camera.

Since this will probably end up as a plea bargain rather than a trial (after all, it's hard to say you weren't here when they caught you in the act), we may get our things sooner rather than later. And, the police tell me that the DA will ask the defense attorney if they can return the physical items and retain pictures as evidence. I think they usually say yes. So, we're hoping we'll see our things in a few weeks rather than 6 months.... but who knows.

In the meantime, I shall try to sharpen my descriptive powers to make things a bit more fun. Who knows, I may be drawing stick figures before we're done! Stick with me, and hopefully we'll have pictures again soon.

(by the way -- I know you're out there... and you're not alone... I have the analytics, and I know that there are folks in Texas and Massachusetts and England and lots of other locales who are reading regularly, even if you're not commenting.... so please continue to hang around and I promise some great pix of FOs when the camera comes home!)

Lousy, Crappy, Miserable, Very Bad Day

This has been a really crappy day. Without getting into too many details here, let me just say that I hope not to spend another day like this any time soon. And as bad as it is to have bad things happen to you, it's worse when you have to see your children affected by those events as well. I suppose it could always be worse (they'll probably put that on my tombstone!) but it was fairly lousy as it went. I'm going to bed in hopes that tomorrow will be an improvement.

In Praise of VM

Yes, you read that correctly. This post is about the fact that I like a little VM in my fiber.

For the non-spinners among you, VM is short for "vegetable matter" -- little bits of hay that get lodged in the coat of the sheep or goat or llama or yak or whatever fiber-bearing creature provided your spinning fiber. If you spin only commercially prepared top or roving, you may never have noticed any VM.... certainly not more than the occasional twig of hay. However, if your fiber is prepared by hand (as in by a person, rather than a machine)you are likely to find a few of these little sprigs. They usually drop out as you attenuate the fibers to spin, or they can be easily flicked out with a finger.

Poorly prepared fiber that contains a lot of VM is no fun for anyone. But an occasional piece, or a guard hair or two (if you're spinning a downy fiber) is actually kind of comforting to me. It reminds me that the fiber I'm spinning is part of a living creature somewhere.

I love the beautiful, fluffy, hand-dyed braids and clouds, too, of course. But they're sort of like buying meat in the grocery store -- all packaged in the Styrofoam trays. It's easy to forget that you have a cow to thank for that burger.

What brought this on? I've been spinning this gorgeous pygora that Pam sent me. I had forgotten how nice it is to spin something that still has a little bit of lock structure, where you have to tease the fibers apart, and to see those occasional bits of the barnyard. So, my thanks to the little goats that provided this fiber, and to the talented folks who dyed and prepared it. I hope I do you both proud with my spinning.

Are You Italian?

A slight deviation from the fiber path today, in order to pass along a wonderful link.

Despite the fact that I look like I just got off the boat from County Cork, Ireland, I am actually Italian. Ok, half Italian, but more Italian than anything else. My mom grew up in an Italian family in Jersey City, NJ, and that was definitely the culture I grew up with.

If that's your culture, too (or if you're just interested in a sweet little film), take a look at this movie.

My favorite memory in the movie is the discussion of "macaroni and gravy" for dinner. (that's "pasta and sauce" to the rest of you). Since I didn't grow up in an Italian neighborhood in Jersey City like my mom, most of my Western Massachusetts school friends were very puzzled when I discussed what we had eaten the evening before. (I'm pretty sure that they thought we were having elbow macaroni and brown gravy!) Add to this the fact that my dad was from Alabama, and that other nights we might have had ham steak with pickled peaches and black-eyed peas, and you can see why my school years were at times a bit of a challenge!

How's Your Imagination?

No pictures today. I'm at Panera Bread killing some time while Emma takes art lessons, so this will have to be a "no frills" post.

Lots of knitting going on. Let's see.... I finished these socks (very cute... Molly loves them). Then, after Emma told me that watch caps were for old folks, I made a cute little beanie for her in the school colors with the leftovers from the coaches' hats. I may get a picture at some point... if she holds still that long.

Come to think of it, Emma has done quite well in the knitted FO department lately. I had started some gloves from the new One Skein book, but I had already lost interest when it came time to separate for the fingers. Fortunately, my daughter pointed out that I could just bind off with a couple of rows of ribbing, and she'd be thrilled to have the fingerless gloves. Problem solved.

I'm also hard at work on a Traveling Scarf circle for my Red Sox group on Ravelry. Kind of a fun concept -- each person knits 10" on a scarf, then mails it to the next person in the circle. They knit and pass along, and eventually you get back the scarf you started. We're using Red Sox colors, of course, and (if all goes according to plan) everyone will have their completed scarf back in time for Opening Day. Fun way to spend the off season!

Finally, I've been spinning. I spun some more on the wheel on some gorgeous "autumn colors" roving I got from Amy ages ago. Still not finished, but it's been a bit of a filler project. And I've been using the new spindle that Pam had made for me to spin up the pygora that she sent in our SP12 swap. What a really gorgeous fiber that is! I'm not sure what I'll use it for when I'm done... have to see how the yardage works out.

So there you go. No pictures, but hopefully lots of pretty mental pictures of all I'm working on. What's on your needles?

Babies and Big Kids

As promised, I have a few pics of the other items I made for my nephew-to-be's baby shower. This first one is purposely a little bit big, since I figured Max might wear it next summer on his trips to the beach.



I wanted to make it in a nice, soft cotton blend, so I ended up using Knitpicks Shine for the first time. What a gorgeous yarn! I'm not usually a fan of knitting with cotton, but this yarn has the most beautiful and soft drape to it... I loved it. (Yes, I did go back an reset the sleeves... awful, I know)

The next item started out as a stashbuster. I had a cute pattern from IW Knits called Old World Booties that I thought would be fun to try out, and what I thought was just enough yarn from some other project. As it turns out, not quite enough. I found myself about 4 yards short at the end. But, thanks to the magic of Ravelry, I was able to find Knitfemme, who had the same yarn in her stash, and she was kind enough to send me enough of it to finish. Thanks, Melissa!



Finally, the "throwaway" at the end, which turned out to be her favorite! Again, I had a bit of scrap yarn left over after finishing something (I don't even remember what at the moment) and I decided Max could use a stylin' little skull beanie. It probably took me all of an hour to finish, but it ended up being a big hit at the shower (you can't get the scale from the picture, but that's the size of a teeny little newborn head... too cute). Can't wait til he gets here to wear it in person!!



Speaking of offspring, my youngest daughter decided to take up an interesting sport this winter. Wrestling. Yes, real wrestling... rolling around and grappling hot and sweaty for six minutes. It is apparently a co-ed sport these days. Yes, yes, I've heard all the jokes, "It was a co-ed sport in my day,too, but it took place in the back of a car!" I will admit that her dad and I had some misgivings at the thought of our 12-year-old daughter in that position. However, just a couple of practices convinced me that the wrestling mat may be one of the few places in the world where young men aren't thinking of sex.

It's very rough, which my little tomboy enjoys. And, I have to say, it's probably a little unfair to the guys. They can't win -- if they pummel her and win, it's no big deal - so you beat a girl, who cares? If, on the other hand, they lose to a girl .... well, you can see where it's kind of tough on them. Fortunately, they had great coaches, and they welcomed girls as well as boys to the team. (well, "club", actually, they can't join the JV team until 7th grade, so for this year, they formed a wrestling club for 3rd to 6th graders).

Here's a shot (waiting her turn to wrestle) that I think should be saved for future boyfriends, don't you?



And here's a look at the whole team. The coaches and varsity/JV players who helped out are in the back. It was a great time, and she learned the basics of the sport. So, who knows, maybe next year she'll be looking to go out for the JV team. We'll see.



The last night of their season was last week, and I wanted to do something nice for the coaches. They're dads of a couple of the varsity players who offered to do this on a volunteer basis. Since they're both bald, I thought it would be kind of nice to make them watchcaps in the school colors My eldest told me that would be ok, since they were kind of "old," but that anyone younger would really want a beanie and not "that weird brim." (For the childless among you, dear readers, if you ever get to thinking that you are just feeling too good about yourself, having children is a sure way to remedy that problem. Oh, not for the first few years... they like you then. But soon enough, they'll be saying things like, "You're not actually going to wear that, are you?" Very grounding)



Nothing special about the hats, except that I decided to use them as a practice project for my continental knitting. I've always been able to knit in either style (throwing or picking) but continental purling has been a challenge. And ribbing.... well, that was beyond bothering! But, the lovely Rita gave me a quick tutorial one night at our local knitting group, and I decided that this was the perfect time to practice. So, I knit two ribbed watchcaps almost entirely continental style. (I did switch off when my hands got tired, but that's the point of having different styles to fall back on.) It was actually a great way to learn, and I now feel totally confident that I could do any knitting in either style. Wicked!

So there you go. Up to the minute. I'm off to my mom's house for my sister Tracy's birthday party. My preggie sis, Terri, should be there, too. The only depressing thought is that even though Tracy is a year older, I'm still older than she is. And even though Terri is huge and pregnant, I may still be bigger than she is. Sigh. Can't even enjoy a good gloat.

Return and Confession

Where have I been, you're wondering. Well, all the usual holiday activities, birthdays (we celebrate several in December and January) work craziness. But I think life is slightly more in control these days, so Happy New Year to all, and let's return to our story, shall we?

One of my activities during hiatus was preparing for my youngest sister's first child. Baby Max is due in a few weeks, and we had a shower over the holidays for him. So I made a cute little outfit for my nephew-to-be. Here's a picture (the astute among you may note that this is where the confession part begins):

A little sheep onesie. All at once now... aw-w-ww. It's a Debbie Bliss design. An early one, from a book called "New Baby Knits." Here's one more shot, where you can see the "tail":

It was an interesting knit. The needles were size 8... kind of large with a DK yarn, but certainly in the realm of normal. It made a soft, floppy fabric, but that's kind of what the picture in the book looked like, so I figured it was fine. It was particularly weird when I got to the ribbed sections... instead of going down in needle size, it went up. This was very strange to me, since you typically go to a smaller size on ribbing to make it pull in and have more elasticity. But, the ribbing on size 10 needles was actually kind of cool. It was big and squishy... not a tight elastic, but very pretty in a decorative way.

Some of you may be sensing a possible problem here. It's a shame that you weren't around when I was making this garment, since you might have smacked me in the head. As it turns out, none of this was adding up for me. Not until I got to the lining of the ear. (yes, that would be the last two pieces of the garment).

When I went to make the lining, I noticed that it said to use the size 10 needles. Odd, that. If I used the larger size, the lining would be slightly larger than the ear... that didn't seem right. I could see if they used the same size, but larger was very strange. Actually, I would have assumed that you'd go to a smaller size ---

You know how you get that really sick, sinking feeling when you realize that you have screwed something up big time, but you're really, really hoping you're wrong? Mmmm... yes, the light bulb finally went on.

The instructions listed needle sizes in metric sizes, with the actual needle sizes in parenthesis following. So, the 3-1/4 and the 4mm needles were listed, with size 10 and size 8 in parenthesis following. Now, if I had thought about a few things, I would have seen my problem instantly. First, notice how the metric sizes go from low to high, and the needle sizes go from high to low? Second, did you know Debbie Bliss is British?

Yes, nauseating, but true. If you are familiar with the English system of numbering needles, you'll know that it's the opposite of the American system. So, in the American system, 1 is a small needle and 15 is a large needle. In the English system, 15 is the little needle, and 1 is large. So, 8 and 10 in English sizes are really 5 and 3 in American needles.

I had purposely selected a superwash... partially because I'd always want a washable yarn for a baby outfit and partially because my sister has a sad history with hand wash yarns. So, trying to felt lightly wasn't really an option. Plus, the garment length was fine, since that's typically calculated in inches ("continue until piece measures 'x'", rather than "continue for 10 rows"). I guess the girth is a little roomier than it needs to be, but I figured the baby will probably wear this over something, sort of a car coat.

I considered ripping out and starting over, but I was pretty much out of time, so I came to the conclusion that the change was a "design feature" and left it at that. I also decided that there was no point in explaining my error, because no one but another knitter could appreciate (or even understand!) what had happened. As it turns out, it got lots of oos and aahs, and all's well. (embarrassing, but fine)

I did make a few other items for little Max that came out just fine. I'll show those to you next time. Nice to be back..... and please, let's not bring up gauge swatches!

Election Day

I voted early this morning. There was a much longer line than usual at the polls, although Massachusetts is never a battleground state, so it was nothing that took hours. I was in and out in about a half hour.

I think of myself as a patriotic person... in the mold of the first patriots in this country, who believed that your highest responsibility is to challenge your government and fight to make it better. As a result, I am sometimes angered and frustrated by my government. But just as a mother who deals with her children's frustrating behavior is still bursting with pride and satisfaction at their successes, I am very, very proud of my country and our system of government when we come together to vote for our leaders.

Today was something beyond the pride that I usually feel, though. I've heard said (and said myself) that this is an historic election. Whether we elect an African-American president or a woman vice-president, it will be a first. Waiting in line to vote this morning, it really came fully clear to me what an amazing day this is.

I live in a very ethnically diverse area, and that's reflected at the polls. As I waited in line this morning, I saw many African-American faces. As I looked around and saw the pride on the faces of my friends and neighbors, I began to realize how truly important this election is. What happened next put a lump in my throat.

An older woman was waiting on line with her granddaughter and great-granddaughter, who was a toddler in a stroller. As we neared the door, there was a sign that said "vote here today". This woman pulled a camera out of her purse and encouraged her granddaughter to stand in front of the sign with the baby. And as she took the picture, the woman said, "Today is history, and I want her to always know and remember that she was here and a part of it."

I realize that we have a whole lot of problems with the economy and the war and more that need fixing. And I know that we have 200 years of ugly history around race that won't go away overnight. But, like that mom at the school play, I am so damn proud of where we are right now.

Happy Election Day

Not-So-Secret-Anymore Pal

Yes, it's true... my SP12 swap pal has been revealed, and it's none other than Pam, the Yarn Goddess herself! I told you last time about what a blast Pam has made this swap for me, and I think I might have said something about the gifts not even being important at this point. Considering the spectacular basket of gifts I received this week, I may have to revise that statement! Get a load of this!!


Let me take you on a tour of the beautiful and carefully thought-out goodies that my pal sent along. First, Pam's from San Francisco, so she sent me a T-shirt and some little keepsakes from her beautiful city.

Next, there was spinning fiber in gorgeous batts, many of them custom dyed for me! It's pretty neat having a spoiler who as all the fiber connections that Pam does -- go over to Yarny Goodness some time and shop around... I dare you to leave without buying something!

Can I give you a tour of the fibers? On the left is a batt called "Autumn Harvest" from Uniquely yours. The blue and white fluff in the center is an angora/merino mix from Bungalow Farm Angora. The blue/violet mix in the decorated bag is a colorway called Perennial Garden from Harmony Homestead (in Rhode Island... so this little package went all the way from New England, to California and back!). It's 100% pygora, and it is the softest thing you've ever felt. I spun up a tiny bit to try it out, and I'm in love! Moving on, the Key-Lime alpaca is from the Fiber Co-op, and that amazing batt on the right is an alpaca/cashmere/silk blend from Split Rock Ranch called Bronzed Burgundy. It is beyond gorgeous! (it's the kind of batt you want to crawl into and snuggle up for a nap.... ok, maybe that's just me!).

There are also some beautiful spinning tools in there. In the foreground is an orifice hook and a WPI tool, both handmade by some of Pam's vendors. The feel of them is amazing... smooth turned wood... it feels as though they were made to fit just perfectly in my hands.

Speaking of which, do you see what's peaking out of the bronze fiber? It's a Golding spindle, made just for me!!! Pam read on my blog that I collect sheep, and she worked with Tom Golding to design this beautiful spindle around black and white bone ring. I have never had a spindle so beautiful in my life... and it spins like a dream!



I know what you're saying... wow, she certainly got spoiled. But I'm not nearly finished yet. Along with the batts, there was yarn!

And not just any yarn. From left to right, there's a skein of Handmaiden Casbah - a merino/cashmere sock blend, peeking out from behind Elvis (my daughter has named the Alcatraz bear) is some Fleece Artist Sea Wool, which I had been dying to try, and on the far right is Fleece Artist Cashlana, a wool/cashmere blend. The wildest thing is that I was poking around the Handmaiden site a few weeks ago, thinking about trying some Casbah. There are dozens of colors, and I hemmed and hawed over them until I had it narrowed down to my own favorite. Before I could actually buy it, I got distracted by the kids, and I never got back to it. Would you believe that this is exactly the color way I had picked out?! So, on top of everything else, my pal is apparently a wee bit psychic!

I know this is hard to believe, but there was even more in the basket. Take a look at this!

Four beautiful braids for even more spinning, and a new friend! I have named the little furry one Chloe. She was actually handmade for me by Pam, and that made it so special.... I've never actually had someone knit for me, and I was so touched... especially because I know that socks are Pam's thing to knit, not little furry critters... Chloe is so adorable!

Oh, yes, the braids. Again, from left to right: Fleece Artist BFL sliver, Peppermint Chocolate merino/silk from Uniquely Yours, Autumn Love BFL, also from Uniquely Yours, and Fleece Artist silk/merino sliver.

I had a chance to have a really great chat with Pam the other night (along with her hubby Mark, who was apparently her partner in crime... my attempts at sleuthing out her true identity have provided them with lots of entertainment!) We had an instant rapport, and I'm sure we have a great friendship ahead of us. All in all, I'd say that SP12 has been a success in every possible way!

Cloak and Dagger

I have to take a few minutes to tell you about my SP12 experience and my amazing luck in swap pals.

If you're not familiar, SP12 is a Secret Pal swap, meaning that everyone involved keeps their identity a secret until they have finished their swap (although hint-dropping is allowed and encouraged). You are assigned both a "downstream" pal (i.e., someone who you send packages to) and an "upstream" pal (i.e., someone who sends packages to you). This gives you a chance to meet two new friends, and also takes some of the pressure off of making the gifting "even." In the case of this swap, the time frame was July through September, and during that period it was up to each pair of pals to determine whether one large package or several smaller packages would be sent.

My "downstream" pal and I had a very nice (if somewhat traditional) swap. I sent her a few packages over the course of the summer, which she seemed to enjoy, and I even knitted her a tea cozy (she's a serious tea lover, so that's not quite as odd as it sounds). Her name is Donna, and I very much enjoyed spoiling her. Hi Donna!

My "upstream" pal, however, has kind of put me to shame as a spoiler. I may never join another swap again, since she has done such a very cool job on this one that she's set the bar very high for my future expectations.

Over the course of this summer and early autumn, I have gotten dozens of emails, each with a hint or two carefully dropped. I know she lives somewhere that's warm in the summer... I know she has a young daughter... I know she's a working mom as opposed to a SAHM... I know she's married. I even know (after many months of teasing) that she lives in Pleasanton. Did you know that there are 9 different Pleasantons in the US?

We've had a lot of fun with this dance, she and I.... and some worries. When hurricane Ike hit, I was worried, since one of my theories for her home town would have put her in danger. A true pal, she quickly backed off the game to reassure me that she in no danger and things were fine (aha! another clue!!)

I have developed a wee obsession about trying to figure out who she is before that package arrives (we're likely down to the last few days now). I spent the better part of last Friday evening on Ravelry... stalking. I looked at people from Pleasanton.... I narrowed it down to the most likely couple of the 9 Pleasantons, based on my blog statistics. I looked at people who came from the major cities near those Pleasantons... I looked for people who mentioned work, or who mentioned a daughter (I don't know if she has siblings or not). I learned a lot about a lot of knitters (including the fact that knitters, as a population, have a disturbingly large number of cats... but I digress). But I'm no closer to figuring out her identity.

My most recent revelation came last night, when I realized that she has actually mailed this package to me on a somewhat round-about route of relays, in an effort to further confuse me about where it has come from. At this point... now, just days before all is revealed... she is still playing the game. You have absolutely got to love that!

Thanks, Secret Sis. I'm sure that package will be fantastic, and I'll be sure to post the pix to share with everyone, but know that this swap has turned into something much more than a gift exchange... you are a very cool chick, and I can't wait to get to know you for real!

The Agony and the Ecstasy

Yes, while many of you were off enjoying Rhinebeck this weekend, I was home, coming to grips with the fact that my boys were not going to be going to the World Series this year. As you can see, they were coming to that conclusion themselves.

It's a bummer, there's no doubt about it, but they played great ball, and they can hold their heads high. Somewhere during game 5, when the Rays fans were watching their "sure thing" slip away, I saw on their defeated faces a look that was all too familiar. (When you grow up a Sox fan --prior to 2004-- you are intimately acquainted with last-minute defeat) But somehow, that crushing game caused Tampa Bay to find reserves they didn't know they had, and they managed to squeak by the Red Sox in the 7th game of a great series.

So, Rays fans, have your day and enjoy it. You earned it. It was great baseball, but someone had to play better and to win. And this year, that was you. For those of us in Massachusetts... there's always next year!

End of a Knit-a-Loo-o-ong

In the category of "things we never thought we'd see," I'm happy to report that Mystic Meadows is not only complete, but blocked. And it's absolutely lovely! (Lovely enough that I may be inspired to go back and finish some of my many lace WIPs) The Knit-A-Long aspect of this project was over long ago, as most everyone else has finished and moved onto other things, but in the spirit of "better late than never," here's a look at the finished product:

Pretty, I think. I thought it might be interesting to share a bit of the blocking process with you, since I was so pleased with my "adaptations." This was my first major lace blocking project, so I had no blocking wires. At $30 (and up), I was seriously contemplating whether I'd actually need to block enough lace in my life to make that worthwhile. Plus, I really didn't have a spot in the house where I could pin out something this large and just leave it there for a day or two.

Attacking my problems one at a time, I went to Lowe's looking for shop floor foam tiles. They looked at me as though I was speaking a foreign language, which I guess was their way of saying they didn't carry them. Same at Home Depot. Fortunately, I happened upon a set of foam alphabet tiles while I was in Michael's one afternoon. For $19.99, I got 28, 1-foot square foam blocks that I can assemble in whatever sizes I need. (and practice my letters at the same time!)

The wires were a little bit more challenging, but I eventually found the best-kept secret in the world! I found a local welding-supply shop (definitely a "boy store," but they were very nice to me). What you want to ask for is TIG wire. I got 3/32" diameter, which is pretty rigid, for straight edges, but you can get thinner diameters for your curved edges. The wires are 3 feet long, and the 10 wires in the bag below cost me $2.10!! (a heck of a nice savings from $30!). With another $2.50 of my savings, I bought a length of PVC pipe and a couple of end caps, and now I have a nice storage tube for my wires. Hubby thinks I should be assembling these kits and selling them on eBay!

Armed with my new tools, I got out on the patio and pinned out my wet shawl, letting the autumn breeze do the rest.


By the way, I really loved this pattern. It splits into three distinct sections, each supporting the theme of Mystic Meadows. The first portion is tall flowers/grasses. You can see the stalks and leaves quite clearly, ending in flowers at the top of each.


The second section is bouquets of flowers, and you can start to see the meadow of individual blossoms scattered through the background.


Finally, the last section has butterflies frolicking around on that background of scattered blossoms. (I know it's a little bit difficult to make out on the colorful background, but if you squint and use a little imagination, I think you'll see them)



My thanks once again to Margene, whose advice to finish the thing that was closest to completion was what helped me slog my way to the end on this. And, as she suggested, I've rewarded myself by starting on a baby item for my nephew-to-be. No pictures on that one right now, since I don't know if my sister ever reads the blog.

Oh yeah, one more thing..... GO SOX!!!!

Guess What?

We're going to the ALCS!



Go Sox!!!!

Distraction

Ever sit down to try and accomplish something and have absolutely everything you do turn out wrong? Yesterday was like that. I finally finished the Mystic Meadows shawl, and I decided to block it. Several false starts later, it is sitting in a damp, unblocked heap. I'm not up to the gory details at the moment, so let's talk about something fun instead, shall we?

How about the Big E? The Big E is the local shorthand for the "Eastern States Exposition". It's kind of a state fair for all of New England, and it happens to be held one town over from where I live. It runs for two-and-a-half weeks every fall, and it's a local tradition. It really doesn't change tremendously from year to year, but it's always a fun day.

I took the kids last Saturday, since Don had to work. One of the main attractions, of course, is the food. I don't have any pictures of us stuffing our faces, but believe me, there was plenty of junk food consumed.

There are also concerts.... Fergie (from the Black-Eyed Peas), Sugarland, Natasha Bedingfield and even Mickey Dolenz were just a few on the roster this year. There are buildings representing each of the New England states which highlight the products each state produces, the big companies there (for example, Lego is in the Connecticut building), the natural resources, parks, shore, etc. and, of course, the favorite foods (it always comes back to food, doesn't it?)

No fair is complete without the rides, and we spent a little time on the midway.


Another favorite spot for me, of course, is the livestock area where, depending on the day, there are cows, sheep dogs, hogs, llamas, alpacas, sheep, goats and other farm favorites being judged. We were fortunate to be there at a time when the sheep were in the barn. Take a look at some of the gorgeous wool-on-the-hoof that we saw:



And, of course my own little lambs:


Oops, sorry... here's a slightly more human shot.


Dad wasn't able to join us, but we did have a reminder of him in when we were visiting the Budweiser Clydesdales tent. (Those are absolutely amazing horses, by the way). One of the big fellas that pulls the beer wagon was named "Don".... can't think of anything more appropriate!


All in all, it was a great, and exhausting, day. I'll leave you with a very pretty picture of the setting sun from my backyard, and save my tales of woe about the shawl blocking for another day.

The Attention Span of a Gnat

Sorry you haven't heard from me in a bit. I'm knitting. Actually, I'm "finishing". Between all the UFOs I showed you a while back, and the shameless cast-on for the socks and then my sister and the whole baby thing, well, it's getting a bit embarrassing.

What finally pushed me over the edge to actually sit down and finish something? Margene. Simple as that. As you have been reading here about a pathetic pile of unfinished stuff, you will read on her blog about lovely and useful finished objects on a regular basis. I have complimented her resolve in finishing things, and she has read my blog. Need I say more?

She left me some good advice, saying, "Knit on the one project that is almost finished and you'll see just how wonderful it is to finish something. That's a bigger thrill than starting it!! ;-)" Now, I'm not altogether sure about that "bigger thrill than starting" thing.... I get pretty darned thrilled when I start something new... but I'm willing to admit that finishing something would be a really nice thrill, too.

So, I'm hard at work on the Mystic Meadows stole. I have 72 rows to go, and I'm not knitting on anything else until I finish it. I will admit that it's a little bit boring at times, but there is a sense of satisfaction in seeing it grow. The only downside is that I won't be able to fully enjoy this as a finished object until I block it. And I don't own blocking wires at the moment. Or have a readily available place to block a 6-foot wrap (good things to think about before starting a stole, don't you think?). Anyway, I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

For now, I'm knitting.... well, for a few minutes. Until I leave for the fair. I wonder if they'll have yarn for sale?....

The Price of Snobbery

Ok, I admit it. Somewhere along the way I became a yarn snob. As I've told you, I learned to knit on Red Heart. For many years, the acrylic yarn at Woolworth's was all I could afford, and it helped me to learn how to knit. As I grew older (and my wallet grew a bit fatter) I discovered Real Wool (it was definitely worthy of capital letters). From there, I found all the other amazing animal and plant fibers that are out there, and developed a predictable disdain of all things acrylic.

So far, a fairly typical path I'd say. Here's where the problem came in. Not only had I dismissed "non-natural" (and in my mind, inferior) yarns, I had also dismissed the companies that made them, regardless of what else they might make. What I did not realize (because of my snobbery) was that (a) in the intervening years, synthetic yarn had come a long way, and that there were actually some really beautiful synthetics and blends and (b) that just because a company sold inexpensive synthetic yarns did not mean that they didn't also offer some perfectly acceptable Real Wool.

Witness the Red Heart Heart and Sole socks in progress:

I just love the colors in this yarn and the intricacy of the self patterning (the repeat goes on forever!). And, my snobbery almost made me miss it. Now, I'll have a cute little pair of Real Wool socks at almost a third of the cost of my usual upscale sock yarn finds.

Speaking of socks, I don't think I ever posted these:

These little house socks are from some of my handspun. It was done from one of Spunky Eclectic's rovings that I got from Amy a while back at Mass Sheep & Wool. (I think it was called "The New Black" or something like that). I was testing out Abby's theory on putting lots of twist into sock yarns at the time. I can see the trade-off -- these are definitely not my softest socks, but they're perfectly comfortable, and they wear like iron. I love them and wear them frequently, although I might still go with something more soft and squishy if I planned to give them as a gift.

And speaking of gifts, I guess I can show you this little cutie now, too:

This is a ladybug tea cozy that I made for my SP12 "spoilee". She was a huge tea fan and a ladybug fan as well, so it was perfect. Since she has received and enjoyed it, and I have "outed" myself to her, I guess there's no reason not to share. I got the pattern from Cakes, Knits and Cosies on Etsy, and if you look at the picture with the pattern, you'll see that there were optional "antennae" that I chose not to make, but I can see where they would be darling, too.

Rainy Sunday here, with the remains of some weather front going through. I'm sure the remains of Ike will keep us wet here for a good portion of the week. Warm thoughts and prayers to all who were in the path of Ike in his more ferocious form.

A Finished Object... and some that may be

Yes, you read that right. I have an honest-to-goodness FO to share. It's sort of a big deal for me, since I'm not really much on "finishing".... although I'm a heck of a starter.

I give you, my 2008 scarf for the Red Scarf Project (insert "ta da" trumpet sound here)

It's a simple little pattern I found on the Jimmy Beans Wool website. It's just called Month 5. As the site suggests, it looks much more difficult than it is. Just four pattern rows repeated over 26 stitches... it flies by.

So, now that my charity knitting is done and on its way to warm some college student this winter, what else am I doing? Well, perhaps it's time for a "Walk through the WIPs" (note that this is a long post with lots of pictures from here on out... but if you want to feel better about your own backlog of projects, by all means carry on)

Bear in mind as we go through these that they are the "current" works in progress. There is another batch of things in progress stuffed in closets and tote bags that will probably never get finished. These are the lucky few that have a shot.

If you recall, I made one Sidewinder sock with the "Knitters Without Borders" STR, and I really didn't care for it all that much, so I frogged it. (I don't need to tell you that I'm liking it more, now that it's gone, right?). Anyway... I started the Cedar Creek Sock from BMFA, and it's going ok so far.

This kind of non-descript, oatmeal-y thing is the beginning of the back of Bianca's Jacket from IK, which I started a while back. I got to the underarm bind-off in the back and decided I needed to rethink the length, wondered whether I needed to think about some short rows for the front, how that would work with the patterned yoke and whether I had enough yarn to do all this. Don't count on seeing progress on this one any time soon.

"My So-Called Scarf" in Malabrigo "Autumn Forest". The colors are stunning, and this picture in no way does them justice. An easy knit, but not something that's exciting me these days.

Mystic Meadows shawl. No excuse for this one. It's about 80% done. It's not difficult. It's even fingering weight yarn. No excuse.

This is an older member of the WIP family. It's the Phyllo Yoked Pullover sweater from Knitting Nature. Gorgeous discontinued yarn (again, crappy picture, sorry) from Art Yarns called Fable. I was happily knitting along on this, planning a comfy oversized weekend sweater when I happened to bring it along to my daughter's orthodontist appointment. All of the women in the office were complimenting it, and when the doctor came in (he's about 5 foot 3, with all of the "short man" issues that implies) he said, "Wow, who's that for, that's enormous!" Needless to say, it took some of the fun out of this little project for me.

Recognize this? It's the Mystery Stole 3 KAL, which was eventually revealed to be the Swan Lake stole. I was really loving it at the beginning -- black alpaca lace, iridescent green beads.... and then it turned out that it was asymmetrical, and the second half of the stole turns into a swan's wing. It's beautiful, but I knew that it wasn't something I would wear. So, I decided to knit a second half identical to the first and graft them together (or maybe use the panel that the designer included for that purpose). But alas, it takes almost nothing to derail my concentration, and this became another WIP.

I'm not sure why I even bothered to include this picture, except to tell you about the project. It's His (Birthday) Scarf, and it's knit in baby alpaca. Amazingly soft, and a really nice, tailored, guy kind of look to it. You can't see the pattern here, but it's a pretty woven/moss stitch kind of thing.

Now, with all this in progress, do I have any business looking at yarn? Of course not. But here you go. When I picked up the Cotton-Ease for the amigurumi at Michael's (not my usual yarn store), I happened to see this self-patterning yarn from Red Heart (not my usual yarn company). I actually learned to knit on Red Heart many, many years ago (back when they sold it in little 1 oz skeins, which I could afford with my allowance), and so I have a wee soft spot for it. There was a swatch of this knit up, and it's very cute -- a much more intricate patterning than you usually see with the self-patterning yarns. And it's Wool! So, perhaps one of my girls has a new pair of socks on the way. (It will come as no surprise to you that, in the time since I started writing this post, I've cast on socks with this yarn.... and they are so-o-o cute!)

So there you have it. I have no business whatsoever starting anything new...ever (well, not for a very long time). Except.... my sister called to tell me that she's pregnant!! And you know what that means....

Halloween Critters

I have to confess... Halloween is one of my most favorite holidays. There's something really fun about being scared... just a little bit. And not really scared, just kind of giggly scared, because you know that it isn't real. Which brings me to my current diversion. I found this book, Creepy Cute Crochet, by Christen Haden, at B&N the other day. I have since found out that Christen sells her patterns (as Needle Noodles) on Etsy and Ravelry, too.



Now, I'm not a huge fan of crochet. Mostly it's because crocheted clothes look...well...crocheted. It conjures up granny square afghans for me (having actually made a granny square vest back in the early 70's in hot pink, orange and lime green, I know what I'm talking about). I will agree that many of today's contemporary crochet designs have a lot more style than that vest, but for some reason, it's just not my thing. However.... these little critters (amigurumi, for the purists) are just too absolutely adorable to believe, and they have convinced me that a little hooking once in a while isn't such a bad thing.

Here's a look at the whole cast of characters for which there are instructions:



Too cute to believe, yes? Christen did her figures in Cotton Ease yarn, which is cheap and easy to find. And, of course, a skein makes quite a few characters, since they're only about 5" high. My kids immediately put in orders for a Knight, a Monkey (not sure I see the creepiness there... but he is cute) and a Grim Reaper. As usual (for me), they are all almost finished. The knight needs a felt sword, the Reaper needs a Sculpy scythe, and the Monkey needs a felt and embroidery face. But still.... very cute.



I put beanbag pellets in the bottom part of each figure, so they have a very satisfying weight to them, and they stand up quite nicely. Hopefully I'll get them finished up some time soon.

And finally, just for the heck of it, a gratuitous shot of Lola, lying on my daughter's tummy and making like a dog (forgive the "alien kitty" eyes... I've never figured out how to photograph animals without that). She loves to get her belly rubbed.... apparently no one ever told her that cats don't do this!

Last Hurrah

The kids and I have enjoyed a nice week (DH had to go back to work on Monday, but I had one more week off). We finished up some back-to-school shopping, and did a few day trips. Nothing big, just local stuff.

Yesterday was the Yankee Candle Flagship store in South Deerfield. If you ever find yourself in (or even near) Western Mass (say during your next trip to WEBS?), you really have to make the short trip up the road to Yankee Candle. It's been called the Disneyworld of Candles, and it certainly lives up to the name.

If I had brought the camera, you'd see lots of pictures, but I forgot. Here's a couple from their web site.

Suffice to say this place is well worth the several hours you will spend there. It's absolutely free, and so it's a nice place to go when you just have an afternoon to kill. Yes, there are candles...zillions and zillions of candles... but also this amazing Bavarian village desigined (Disney style) to feel like you're walking through an outdoor town square at nighttime (complete with falling snow and cold air), a medieval castle filled with nutcrackers, and dragons and gargoyles (and you know how I feel about the gargoyles), animatronic characters, Santa's workshop (complete with a year-round Santa), two restaurants, a Build-a-Bear workshop, a dip-your-own candles activity for the kids, a home and kitchen store, and specialty shops selling New England gifts, Department 56 Christmas and Halloween villages, etc., etc. Truly, words don't do the place justice... make sure you visit if you're ever in the area.

If you do go, there's also a butterfly conservatory up the street called Magic Wings. That's also a lot of fun, and I do have a picture of that (from one of our previous visits). Here's a look at Don with a little hitchhiker on his baseball cap. (You have to actually go through a room filled with mirrors as you leave, so you can remove any of the butterflies that are perched on your person looking for a free ride!)

All in all, a great vacation. Now we'll hope for a nice holiday weekend, and... back to reality on Tuesday!