Wool in Mississippi?

Absent minded

2005-09-08T18:37:00.000-05:00

Here is the picture of the frogged socks. Maybe I can finish them tonight if the baby sleeps for a while.

Posting again

2005-09-08T17:47:00.000-05:00

Now I know I have been remiss in not posting but I got laid off from my job at the end of June and then I had a baby 2 weeks ago today. If you would like to see a picture of him he has his own bog at Temple I have been doing some knitting and getting some knitting. The sweater I am knitting for a friends baby is almost done and I should have pictures tommarow. I finished this sweater for my own baby. In cotton becuase it is hot in Mississippi year round.

My wonderful friend Brynne knit him this sweater and it arrived the day he was born. You can see more cool stuff that Brynne has knit on her blog.

Isn't it the coolest little sweater ever? And she used precious cotton ease to make it so that he could wear it here.
I knit him the little socks from this summers IK but they were already to small for him when he came home from the hospital so I frogged the toes to make them long enough. Did I mention that he was a 8lbs 15oz baby?

Clean House

2005-06-06T11:08:00.000-05:00

I know that isn't as exciting to the rest of you as knitting is, but I haven't picked up a needle since we got back from Michigan last Wednsday night. We have been keeping up apperances which included buying a new Hoover Cyclone vacuum cleaner and finally cleaning up the office/baby room. I was freaking out because there would be know where to put up the crib or the dresser and the baby was going to have to sleep on the filthy floor becuase the sweeper didn't work. As luck would have it I have the best husband in the world and he willingly helped me clean the house all weekend until I was no longer worried and also helped pick out a car seat and all the cloth diapers that I hope we will ever need.
So I should be back to knitting on baby things for Temple tonight. I am still working on the sweater and I want to use up a lot of my cloth stash making up some PJs for our blisteringly hot summers. I also need to get some needle rolls made. So there should be plenty of pictures later in the week.

Soaker Pants!!!

2005-05-26T14:28:00.000-05:00

I know I shouldn't be so excited about cloth diapering but I have finished my first pair of soaker pants for the baby and they turned out really well. Here they are on a minature bench:

And then I took a picture of them in the hobbit garden. I know there is a troll in the picture, try to use your imagination.

They are all nice and lanoliny and I hope they will keep his bed dry at night. I have yarn to make some daytime pairs and a pair of soaker pants with footies for in the winter. The baby sweater is still comming along and I hope to get a lot done on it as we drive to Michigan this evening and tommarow. The weather there is only supposed to be in the 60s which we barely get into at night in Mississippi now. It is hard to imagine that I will be pregnant until mid-august and then we will still have 2 months of summer to get through. I am so looking forward to cool Michigan weather.

The soakers are from Little Turtle Knits there patterns are really cute and they have this interesting Mama pancho that I am still thinking about. I don't wear panchos but this seems more like a winter sling for a place that doesn't get below freezing in the winter. I am planning to go to two yarn shops, one in Ann Arbor and one in Chelsey, MI. I hope everyone has a good Memorial Day weekend.

New Orleans

2005-05-17T11:49:00.000-05:00

DH took me to New Orleans this weekend so I got no knitting done but had a huge amount of fun. We spent Saterday in the French Quarter and we went to the Quarter Stitch which is full on knittng and needle point. All of the canvases are hand painted so if you are into that please check them out.

Here is Christopher holding our package. He got the Debbie Bliss Toy Knits so that he can knit the pirate rat for the baby. I got a 3 mm addi turbo needle. I can't wait to see the rat. The book also has a lot of great teddy bears and farm animals.

The also had this hanging in their window.

It is a piece of dried okera that has been painted to look like Santa Claus. I am going to try to make some of these for christmas. Christopher planted a whole row of okera and I doubt I will get it all picked and canned before they get woody.

Quarter Stitch wraps all of your purchases in tissue paper and then puts them in a bag with confetti. It really makes you want to buy stuff just so you can carry it around.

Brocade Baby Sweater

2005-05-10T12:43:00.000-05:00

Here is the progress on the brocade baby sweater. The pattern is simple and easy to do when watching a movie. It was designed to be knit out of Merino but that would be useless in Mississippi so I am using a cotton yarn in the same guage. I may make the sleeve cuffs a little looser to make up for the reduced elasticity. The color is a dark brown/red color. I have already made a sweater for my self out of it and it washes up pretty well.

On the baby front I have to go in for my glucose test this week. I am not looking forward to it unfortunatly. I can test my blood sugar at home anytime I want, myDH is a diabetic. So I am not sure what good it will do to have me sit around in the doctors office for an hour letting other people poke me.

I am still enjoying my new spinning wheel and have started working with a new roving that I bought awhile ago in Michigan. It has a pretty long staple and I am haveing a hard time spinning it really fine. I don't want to only make 2 ply worsted for the rest of my life!

Blueberry Tart

2005-05-04T10:09:00.000-05:00

Here is the latest hat for the baby. I did not give in to the temptation of making the cat wear it for a picture. I think it turned out well. The pattern is from knitty, I think it is going to look great on Temple.

I am not sure what I am going to work on next. There is a little sweater in Knits that came out a few months ago and I could get started on that, but my sisters birthday is in August and my Mom's is in June so I should probably get going on things for them. If you can think of anything that would be a good Mom present, please let me know!

Not so happy kitty

2005-04-29T09:21:00.000-05:00

Here is Alice in the Blueberry hat that I made for the baby yesterday. She was only willing to participate in the photo shoot since she could sit on Christopher's lap while it was happening. Hopefully I will not have the urge to use her as a model for baby sweaters as well.

I froged the Dalgarn Baby sweater that I was working on for a friend because I realized that I was not smart enough to read the sizing chart and was making the 9 month sized instead of the 12. He was born last February and I would like him to be able to wear the sweater for more than the month of November. So back to casting on.

Happy Kitty

2005-04-20T14:17:00.000-05:00

My kitty, Alice discovered the bowl of fleece that I had photographed for my last post from my secret pal. Before shooing her away from it I just had to take this picture.

She was just so happy that I ended up giving her part of an old roving that I didn't want for her very own. She likes to lay down and roll in it all the time.

On the knitting side I have managed to finish the shawl and it looks really good. I have not managed to photograph it. Maybe tomorrow.

On the spinning side I have finished spinning one roving but it is a little uneven so I think I am going to knit it into soaker pants for the baby. I have been working with a new roving but I am not a good enough spinner to have it be very even yet and there is enough for a sweater so I may stop fooling with it until I am a little better. A friend of mine recently gave me a grocery bag full of cotton bolls and after I have picked it clean I am going to try spinning it off the seed. That just seems like such a Mississippi thing to do. I think there is enough fiber for a pair of socks or maybe a little purse.

Back from Vacation

2005-04-04T10:04:00.000-05:00

And, oh what a vacation it was. but comming back was great after two weeks away I really missed by DH. I also recieved 2 packages in the mail while I was gone. One was from my Secret pal and she sent me this, plus a little chicken that lays bubble gum eggs and is on my desk at work.

The Fleece is Border Leicster and hand dyed. I am looking forward to spinning it. And I needed a yarn journal. I already have some things glued into it!
Package number 2 was from my lovely friend Brynne who just moved her blog to knitlet It was a great blanket and bag roll up with lots of goodies in side.

It has Burts Bee's things rolled up in a litttle side pocket, an eye pillow and a book on Lectio Devina which I really love to do. It looks like this when it is all rolled up.

Which shows you what I got to pick up on my vacation in Colorado. My new spinning wheel.

It is a Lendrum Castle wheel and I couldn't be happier. Maggie at Shuttles, Spindles and Skeins in Boulder, Co went over the wheel with me and made sure that everything was working properly before I took it home. I have been having a lot of fun with it but I haven't had much time to play. I felt I should finish up some projects first. Which I did, but they are soaking right now for blocking so no pictures until later. I would love to hear what other people think of their Lendrums. Or any tips for a new spinner, I have been a spindler for years but the wheel is different.

Knitting class

2005-03-16T13:30:00.000-06:00

OK. My knitting class is done for now. Here are some pictures of my students. They did a great job and everyone had a lot of fun.I had so much fun teaching this class. It has really motivated me to start the master knitter program.

On another note I discovered Litte Turtle Knits on the Web their patterns are some of the cutest things I have ever seen. The poncho design orginated on a Dutch Web Site at Mama Poncho I have never ever wanted to knit a poncho but I want to now. My baby is due in August and I think this will be perfect for all next winter in Mississippi since it doesn't get cold here. We are also planning to go the cloth diaper route and now I can make soakers and baby long johns for alot less money. If you have used any of their patterns please let me know, I would love to hear what you have to say.

Class Tonight

2005-03-10T13:43:00.000-06:00

Tonight is the second night of the knitting class that I am teaching. I have really enjoyed having students and after the tatting classes I have just finished teaching it is nice to be working with something easier. My hay fever is also better which is great since I can't take anything for it and just spend a lot of time not breathing with my eyes watering.
My DH was so excited about how much fun I am having teaching the class that he suggested that I think about doing the Master Knitters Program so that I can eventually become certified. That was so nice because I had been thinking of the same thing earlier in the evening when I got done with class. I love knitting but sometimes I think I like teaching it even better!!
My students are all beginning knitters and they can now do a knitted cast on and the knit stitch. Tonight is binding off and purling. We have one class after that I think we will look at how to read a pattern and different types of yarn. I always give out my phone number at the end of class as well so that they can contact me if something didn't stick. Have any of you taught a knitting class? I would love t0 hear your ideas.

Shawl Progress

2005-03-03T14:54:00.000-06:00

I have been working on Pacific Northwest as fast as I can. The ediging is almost complete and then I have to put the i-cord around the top edge.

I want it to be complete in time to show it to the knitting class I am teaching next week as an example of what you can do with only 4 stiches. It is neat to show students how simple elegent prjects can be.
Here is a close up of the lace.

It has been alot of fun to knit though it has taken a little more yarn on a much larger needle to obtain the guage the pattern called for. But the orginal yarn was Wool and this is Angora, and the Angora seems to have no streach to it at all. It is also not fuzzy in the least. It has been a real dream to work with.

My Husband and I also went up the the Natchez Trace last weekend and ate a slug burger after climbing the highest point in Mississippi. Slug burgers are this great concotion of soy meal and hamburger that is fried like any other burger. They were great I definatly recommend getting one in Iuka if you are ever in that area.

I would defiantly recommend getting one here in downtown Iuka, and don't forget to try the fried pie!

Pearls before Swine

2005-02-22T11:52:00.000-06:00

My wonderful secret pal sent me a gift 2 weeks ago and I have not posted about it. I am a terrible reciever and I apologize. Please forgive me! She sent me yarn and handcream and a wonderful magazine called Breath, which was just what I needed that day. I ripped the package open before I even went to work and sat the yarn on my desk all day just to remind my self of how beautiful life can be.

And don't forget the lovely Tazo decaf tea so I can drink all I want whenever I want!
I think I am going to knit socks out of the lovely Cherry Tree yarn but I might wait a few more weeks to see if I am having a girl becuase a bonnet and bouties would be really cute, too. My DH thinks we are having a girl but I really don't have any idea.

SP 4 questions

2005-01-31T13:48:00.000-06:00

1. Are you a yarn snob (do you prefer high- a nd/natural fibers)? Do you avoid Red Heart and Lion Brand? Or is it all the same to you? I guess I am a yarn snob. I don’t knit with any red heart I have used Lion Brand for gifts for children. I love anything by Brown sheep company and I do use nylon blends for socks.

2. Do you spin? Crochet? I do spin and my first spinning wheel should be arriving soon. Currently I use top whorl drop spindles. I do crochet but only when it is involved in a knitting or tatting project.

3. Do you have any allergies? (smoke, pets, fibers, perfume, etc.) nope.

4. How long have you been knitting? I have been knitting for 3 or 4 years.

5. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list? not yet

6. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.) I like most things. I don't like candles. I like anything made by Burts Bee's.

7. Do you have a sweet tooth? Usually I do, but right now I am pregnant and I don't like sweet things. But that may change in the next hour or two.

8. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? I tat and build book cases for my house and I plan to start sewing baby clothes soon. I also cook,
a lot. Mostly ethnic food because they don't require meat in most cases. I embroider, mostly using stump work and Brazilian stitches. I don't do cross stitch.

9. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD) I love all music except for rap, soul and modern country.

10. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? I love maroon and all dark reds, raspberry etc.

11. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets? I am married and expecting
my first human baby. I already have one of the world's most spoiled felines.

12. What are your life dreams? (really stretching it here, I know) I want to reach
complete harmony with God and the universe. I am not kidding. I practice centering prayer and I sit in the Zen tradition.

13. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? I love Brown Sheep Company yarns. I also love all lace weight yarns. But Lambs Pride Worsted is my work
horse yarn.

14. What fibers do you absolutely *not* like? I don't like novelty yarn.

15. What is/are your current knitting obsession/s? Lace and finishing techniques.

16. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit? Lace and socks felted things

17. What are you knitting right now? socks, a lace shawl, a baby sweater for a friend and a sweater that I am froging that is for me.

18. What do you think about ponchos? I don't like ponchos. I do love shawls.

19. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? I don't really care.

20. Bamboo, aluminum, plastic? I use bamboo, and addi turboss and Denise needles. All of the aluminum needles that I have are way to long to be comfortable.

21. Are you a sock knitter? Yes

22. How did you learn to knit? My friend Mollie, from New Zealand taught me.

23. How old is your oldest UFO? About 2 years old

24. What is your favorite animated character or a favorite animal/bird? I love Strong Bad at homestarrunner.com right now.

25. What is your favorite holiday? Easter

26. Is there anything that you collect? Lint under my bed. I also like to collect vintage hand work books and magazines. The patterns are often really good and practical.

Mittens and Shawls

2004-12-15T11:29:00.000-06:00

I have been knitting even though I haven't been posting. I have made another set of felted mittens, this time with a different eyelash yarn and the effect is much better

I have also been working on Pacific Northwest. Here is some advice about lace knitting. Don't do it in a car at night. It is to hard to see if you are off on a repeat. Don't knit near dogs, or atleast not near dogs that you don't know very well, will knock you over and make you drop stiches. I am almost done with the wave section of the shawl but I can't work on it until I finish:

My brother-in-laws watch cap. He wants one just like he wore in the navy.

Other than that the only thing I have is:

15 days to knew spinning wheel!

I am still thinking about knitting the socks from the six-socks knit along. But I live in the middle of no where and can't buy and sock yarn or beads or needls or anything I want until we get to Colorado after Christmas. So I will be working on the shawl and a different pair of socks that still need to be fininshed.

Pacific Northwest

2004-11-23T09:30:00.000-06:00

Here is the shawl I have been working on. I have all of the seagulls done and am four rows short of finishing the trees. The color did not come out correctly it is really a dark cranberry/maroon color, but I am driving to Michigan today and did not have time to play with taking pictures.

The finished shawl should look like this http://www.fibertrends.com/viewer/V4_shawls.html I am quite pleased with it so far. I am knitting it on a US size 9 needle. The pattern calls for a US 6 but if I knit it that tight the gage is completely off.

37 days to spinning wheel. I think that they also give you 10% of the purchase price as fiber. I think it will take me a long time to spin up $40 worth of fiber. They have really beautiful stuff there.

I now have five people signed up for my needle tatting class in January. I am really excited.

I did not take a picture of my craft bag for vacation but I have limited my poundage admirably. I am taking two knitting project, the shawl and a sock and two or three tatting books with supplies. The nice thing about tatting is that you can bring a ridicules number of options along and it looks like very little stuff.

I should be able to visit Yarn a Round in Ann Arbor on Friday or Saturday. They are a great yarn store. I am just going to have to keep in mind that I have a lot to do by Christmas when I get my spinning wheel.

The Great Smokies!

2004-11-22T09:42:00.000-06:00

My Husband took me to the Great Smokies last weekend, to get me out of Mississippi for a few days.

They were beautiful and we climbed 5 state high points: Tennesse, North Corolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama. It was great fun.

I started my Pacific Northwest Shawl from Fiber Trends and we had a great time. I am done with the first 1 and 1/2 sections of the pattern, all of the sea gulls and most of the trees. I hope to post a picture of it tonight after I finish packing for our trip to Michigian.

38 days until my new spinning wheel!!!

I called Maggie at Shuttles, Spindles and Skeins on Saterday and she is holding a Lendrum for me until I get there on the 30th of December. She wants me to try it out before I decide that it is the wheel for me, since I have spent about an hour total using a spinning wheel. I am not sure that I would be able to tell the difference between two of them. They are very nice there and if you are ever looking for yarn in the Front Range of Colorado you should check them out. They carry weaving, basket making, spinning, knitting, crochet and tatting supplies.

I know that I am going to have to stop relying on Boulder for everything I want to buy. But I still know where to get things there so much more quickly. I just don't know my way around Jackson or Memphis very well. It is still easier to get things in Ann Arbor that it is in Mississippi since my wonderful Mother and Brother-in-Law help me get what ever I want while I am there.

Socks are done

2004-11-10T09:48:00.000-06:00

Here are my finished Fluted banister Socks. They are not blocked and may never be so they are a little squished up.

I think they turned out well. I had to frog the toes twice because I did not have enough yarn and did not want to have to order another ball of Sockatta especially since I had lost the band.
Here is Alice, my cat, playing with a cat toy that Brynne made for her. Brynne's blog is located here, www.knit.blogspot.com

I am still blocking the Cabled Tulip sweater and I am knitting a baby hat from Dalgarn that I hope to block tonight. Then I don't want to knit any more baby things.
The weather is blessedly cool and the house has been in the 5os at night.
Only 51 more days until I have my spinning wheel.
I also ordered myself two new tatting books on Monday. Monday was a bad day. I really enjoy tatting but was getting tired of making edgings and little circles. So I hope my new book on inverted tatting and Fancy Pants 2, with advanced techniques will be fun. My tatting class that I want to teach in January is also shaping up.

Brewing

2004-11-03T09:40:00.000-06:00

OK I have no new knitting pictures from this weekend. Because I didn't spend much time knitting. I did teach two people to knit, though. A girl in my Youth Group. And a friend of mine with a new baby. Both were doing well on their garter stitch samples when I last saw them.
This is what I did last Friday:

That's right we brewed beer. Good, heavy, German beer. It is a recipe called Phat Fired Weizenbock from Charlie Papazion's Joy of homebrewing.
I love making beer, it is fun and messy and always includes spending the evening with my DH:

He says he is the luckiest man in the world because I like to brew beer and I don't like diamonds, to many Karma problems.
It's alive! OK, the yeast in it is alive. People don't make beer, yeast make beer. Yeah for yeast!

Turn Turn Turn

2004-10-28T19:26:00.000-05:00

OK, I Have turned the heal on the second sock. I am using a different heal from the pattern because I have really wanted to try this one.

I think they are looking pretty good. I have not started any other knitting projects because I think that I have to start finishing things before I start new ones. I also need to start taking the pictures in a better place.
It is still really hot in Mississippi. 87 degrees today. It is almost November, people! I am really getting sick of this. It is only supposed to get up to 66 on election day. I am so excited. I am going to try to have the socks done by then because it will be cool enough to wear them!
My DH is still working on his first mitten. I will have a post up of it soon. It is a teenage girls dream! Pink, Black and Fuzzy!

Coming along nicely

2004-10-19T17:06:00.000-05:00

OK, my fluted banister socks that I am making with the six_sox knitalong are going well. I am done with the first one and have started on the second.

I have also finished the soy silk shawl I was working on. It didn't require any blocking and it turned out really cute. I wore it to work last week when tempuratures in the Delta fell below a whopping 75 degrees.

My husband, Christopher is also a knitter and he wanted his latest project included as well. It is an alpaca scarf from Simply Beautiful Sweaters for Men. He did a great job for it and will probably wear it when we go to Michigan in November.

Here we go

2004-10-04T19:01:00.000-05:00

OK, I was so inspired by Brynne that I felt I had to have my own blog since she has two of them and takes care of John everyday. I just have a job, but I have to live in Mississippi right now which is a great excuse to refuse to do anything. I am working on a shawl right now and it only needs to be bound of. It is made out of beautiful soy silk yarn and I should be able to wear it in Feburary when it finally gets cool enough here that I wont mind having to wear clothing out of the house. I will post a picture of it when I can find the digital camera.