Spinning wheel, got to go round

"What goes up, must come down. Spinning wheel, got to go round." - "Spinning Wheel" Blood Sweat and Tears.
You know what, the axel goes up, and sometimes it takes an extra push from my hands to go back down. And THEN the spinning wheel turns.

This week was week one of spinning. I like it! Beads are like crack. One of my friends said the yarn is like weed. Spinning...I say it's something like morphine or opium. I'm happy and sedated.
I'm borrowing Patricia's spare wheel since I don't have one (yet) and spinning, spinning, spinning...WHEE!!!!!!

Tote Exchange loot

I got my bag from the tote exchange. I like. It's black with a dark grey stripe...perfect for me in winter since I like those colors. Would you believe that in the winter, I tend to dress darker, partly because I spent a lot of time with New Yorkers but also because if I wake up grumpy, bright colors will make me grumpier? Black and dark grey don't make me grumpier. And this bag is big enough to lug some knitting around in. I also got some tea candles (yay!) and some candy (mmm!).

I've got ... a sock ... oh yeah!

Well, I've got part of a sock. It's my first pair of socks. The Anna socks from Rowan, #40 I believe. I've read enough of other blogs to know to switch from my size 2 needles down to 1 when I approached the ankles. So far so good!

And a different view

For your listening pleasure, the inspiration for the title of this post.

Unsuccessful

I put on shorts today. Along with a sleeveless top. And for good measure, I put something long sleeve over that...for before I warmed up. This was before I stepped out of the house. After I stepped out of the house, it still felt a bit cold, but that's okay.
Then I got into the car and saw that it was 30 something degrees. How did no one mention this critical fact to me? So my plan to run 16 miles today did not come to fruition. I ran maybe the first 2 or 3 miles. And then I was over in East Potomac Park. And my muscles just didn't work. The river side of the park was ridiculously cold with the wind blowing off the river. So I walked around East Potomac park and got back to the tidal basic and walked myself to the Smithsonian metro where I returned to my car. Overall, a not so successful morning. I did decide to knit myself a wool cap because the wind blowing against my head was giving me a headache.

why?

Why? Why? Why? Someone needs to explain to my why I signed up for the Marine Corps Marathon. Because tomorrow morning, I'm getting up before the crack of dawn to run something like 15-17 miles. And I'm already tired and getting more tired just thinking about it. So, why did I sign up for MCM? It's not like I can blame my friend Reshma this time. I was the one who signed up for it.

I think this is going to be my route tomorrow: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=491610. Gotta love google pedometer. How does one replace close to 2000 calories? Judy needs to replace at least 1500, for fear that she will get another headache that doesn't go away until she goes to sleep tomorrow night. Judy is really tired. That's why she's talking in the 3rd person.

Leaves

Class on Sunday. Now it's time for sleep.

Being bad

I'm being bad and not going to the gym today. TeeHee. :-)

The next Monday and Tuesday nights, I'll be at Springwater taking the spinning wheel class. I can not tell you how excited about this I am. I've even started pricing out wheels! Someone had mentioned to me before about spinning all sorts of hair, even human hair and I didn't think much of it. Well, today, I was actually thinking...hmm, my hair does seem to build up and clump up in the bathroom and become this ball of hair that gets to be a bit disgusting if one is not careful to remove it. Anyone who's ever had long hair knows what I'm talking about here. The short hairs don't stick together as well. Of course, this led to the thought of, "well, I guess that why you want to start off spinning with longer hair because they stick well together" and I started wondering about taking the hair off of my bathroom floor and spinning that into fiber. Like I said, being bad.

"Douceur et Soie"

Anyone have any interest in splitting a bag (or two) of this with me? I'd like to get Cafe Au Lait (8845). And by splitting "a bag (or two)", I'm also willing to get two bags and split with someone...
This is laceweight yarn, 70% mohair, 30% silk. 25 grams, 225 yds per skein. 10 skeins per bag. $82.50 per bag.
I want to use the Cafe Au Lait to make the Wing-o-the-Moth shawl.

Another knit along

I found another knit along for me. It's the hockey knit along, to knit some items for charity while watching hockey, now that the season has begun. Funny, I found it while I was knitting watching a night of hockey after a long off season.

My First Fiber Festival

I was going to go to the MD Sheep and Wool Festival this past May but I ended up down in New Orleans at Jazzfest because my friend John was moving to Germany.
Today, I went to the Virginian Fiber Festival. Note that it's been raining here for a couple of days and we didn't know if it has also been raining down there. Well, it was and so it was REALLY muddy. Helena drove and her car is pretty low to the ground. We got stuck trying to leave and there were guys in the parking lot whose jobs were to direct traffic but they ended up pushing cars out of the mud and onto solid ground. Our shoes?


I must say, the running has come in handy because I've worked my way through a few pairs of sneakers. I had chosen to wear the oldest pair of sneakers I had, those would be the ones that are not white. I threw in the orange ones as a comparison of what my shoes normally look like. And you can see that the mud seeped into my shoes to my socks and splattered onto my jeans.
Loot you ask?

1. 
   

   On the left, it's Euroflax Linen. It feels rough but after a few washes, it becomes really soft. On the right, that over a pound of lace weight tencel in "Persian Red." Mmm...laceweight...

   
   



2. Roving. I don't spin...yet. But I'm taking the wheel spinning class at Springwater Fibers in a couple of weeks with Helena and Patricia. Helena and I decided to buy some roving as inspiration. The braid is a merino/cashmere blend. I like cashmere.

   
   



3. Click on the picture, enlarge it. Yes, that's right, you read it right. Size 000, 40 inch circular needles. I like laceweight. If you didn't know that I'm a little crazy when it comes to the knitting or beading, you really have not been paying attention to my blogging.

I arrived with only cash, and I came home with cash. Whoo hoo!

October 2006

goals.
I don't think I accomplished any of my goals from September. Wait, I did finish the grand dutch spiral necklace and I need to post a picture.
Somewhat Cowl? I'm working the sleeves and I may re do the body. I'm also just about done with the Autumn Leaves pattern since class is next week.

For October, I hope to:

1. Finish the Somewhat Cowl, whatever form it is in (only if I don't have to order more yarn)
2. Line my Tote Exchange bag. This needs to arrive at its destination by the last day of the month.

Ya, that's it. I may have additional items like...make necklaces as presents for my relatives. So much to do!

The Knit Goes On

We did knit tonight, even if the the founder of the Sweet Life Knitters was far far away. I was knitting my Rowan Anna socks. I'm otherwise still working the sleeves (on two circulars) for the Somewhat Cowl. It's getting bulky to be lugging around.

Saturday, I'm supposed to teach the beginning florals class. If no one signs up, I'm going to the VA fiber festival. Hmmmmmmmm...

One of the blogs I read is the Yarn Harlot's blog. She and her significant other of many years finally got married. I was moved (?) by today's post where there was a link to an organization for the unmarried and otherwise single and I must say, it struck a cord. I like my singleness. I like the freedom. I don't mind men, I like men in fact. But unlike most people in my life who feel that I need to get married, I am perfectly happy on my own and am willing to wait until I find the right one. Apparently, there's a name for people like me. It's called quirky alone and how did I score on their quiz?
How quirkyalone are you?
Your score was 91. Very quirkyalone:
Relatives may give you quizzical looks, and so may friends, but you know in your heart of hearts that you are following your inner voice. Though you may not be romancing a single person, you are romancing the world. Celebrate your freedom on National Quirkyalone Day, February 14th!
Ya.

Overwhelmed

I think I'm feeling a little overwhelmed. So many projects that I've started and in the middle of. A few projects I need to finish with actual deadlines. Projects in my head. I've been very tired for the past couple of weeks and made time out this weekend to actually take naps. I don't usually take naps because I feels as if there's way too much other stuff to do.

The Somewhat Cowl is not finished. I'm working on the sleeves. Then I'd be done...except that I think I may rip out the body/waist shaping and redo it. I'm bringing it to snb to get opinions, after I've finished the sleeves.

I can take a shower tonight with hot water!

It's been a long week and I just haven't been home or gotten as much sleep as I'd liked. So I thought I'd make it an early night and stay home, instead of going knitting. Well, it gets darker earlier and when I got home, the storm had already taken out the power. Off to Starbucks I go, cuz there's knitting there, and people, and electricity.
Tonight, I lace my sunflower petals. In case anyone is wondering about works in progress, in no particular order:
Somewhat Cowl (sleeves left), Celeste (knit beaded bag), Anna socks from Rowan, Hopeful to frog, Charlotte's Web, Tubey, Sunflower parts, autumn leaves pattern, Pearls in the Coral necklace, Ndeble bracelet, my Tote Exchange bag, various cabochons, instructions of the pot of flower pens class...I don't remember what else.

Wire in a yarn meter

Why yes, you can put wire in a yarn meter and measure it! I borrowed Amber's yarn meter to measure yardage for the leaves and we weren't sure if it would work. Well, it did!

Here's a preview of the maple leaf.


The pattern will be ready by October 15, 2006 since that's the day of class. If I am actually a good girl, the pattern will be ready a week before that. Yup, I'm working this weekend as crafty beady chick.

A note on the bead soup. Main color + a bunch of other colors...it doesn't take a lot of the other colors before the whole thing starts to look too busy. I don't do a good bead soup, maybe cuz I don't normally do bead soups.

Upcoming classes

Class schedule is out for Bead Obsessions. First two weekends of October are filled with classes for me. Time to get to work on the autumn leaves pattern!

I've been using Google calendar for a while. I have my own appointments in there. I also created a Bead Obsessions class calendar so I can see what's going on. What's really cool about Google calendar is that you can overlay multiple calendars and copy events from one to another. So now I can see how classes fit into my schedule! This is a public service. You don't need a google account to view the calendar. The link is here. I'm also adding it to the side bar.

Random musings for the day

• So, I work in Rosslyn, near the Key Bridge so I can go and run on the Mt. Vernon trail. Today, I decided to do either the 4 mile loop around Georgetown, or the 6 mile loop through Georgetown by the FDR memorial. So, I'm on the VA side, ready to cross the Key Bridge and I thought, "I should've stuck a credit card in my pocket. I'm running past Stitch DC Georgetown and I'm in need of size 1 dpns. Sadly, I only had my id, my metro card, cell phone and $2 on me. I also neded up running the 6 mile loop.


• I googled myself today. The term I entered was "judyyiu". I found mention of me in the Art Jewelry Community forum and all I could see from the google blurb was "I can ' t say I ' ve seen any free patterns on the web . this girl made her own pattern and sells it . http : / / judyyiu . blogspot . com / 2005 / 09 ..." I've been worried all day that they said something bad about the pattern. Finally I get home tonight and I login and see that someone was looking for a free calla lily pattern and someone pointed them to my blog. What do they say? One of the comments was "I love the calla lily on the blog page. they are so real looking." Yay! I'm so happy they like it!


• And I am mentioned on this person's MySpace page as a flower beading hero! (Okay, I started googling myself for real) Wow!

Goodies

I emailed Woolsworks Ltd. who sells those nifty double point needle holders to inquire about the price. The response was:
These holders are reproductions of those used in the
19th Century and are crafted using time honored period techniques. Each one
is made individually by a tinsmith, no machinery is used. I have 2 sizes
available. The small holds shorter dpn's 5-71/4 inches for 15.50 and the
long holds 8 inch needles for 17.50.Shipping is $2.00.

They do accept credit cards and Paypal.

Tired. sleepy.

Fiddlesticks patterns

Found a place where they're on sale: Busy Hands Yarn. Looks like they're clearing out stock. I want the Garden Shawl.

Weekend Roundup

Another weekend has come and gone. It was a weekend spent at Bead Obsessions. Friday night was Helena's knitting night and a few of us went out to dinner afterwards. Saturday afternoon was the first part of the sunflower class. This morning was the cabochon class. Feeling kind of tired so I've been home on the couch working on the grand dutch spiral. I'm hoping to have it done by this Friday in time for needleweaving study group.

Goals for this week:
1. Finish the grand dutch spiral necklace
2. Finish the cowl neck on the Somewhat Cowl
3. Start on the autumn leaves pattern.

Onto something knitted

I've reflected, I've updated...now I have a question.
In the Crystal Palace English Garden Felted Carpetbag pattern, can someone please explain to me what the "Knitted top flaps" are for and how they are different from the "handle fastners"? I was assuming that the top flaps were what I fold down to hold the wooden purse handles in with. But that seems to be the "handle fasteners". So can anyone tell me what I'm supposed to do with the handle fastners? Right now, I don't think I'll be making them unless someone gives me a reason to do so. Thanks!

Comments

I found the blogger tag to display "add comments" on the main page. So now that's fixed. Damn hard to find APIs.

What if...

This is one of those "sharing" posts. The following were my thoughts driving with the traffic of 395 towards the Pentagon this morning on my way to work.

Some days or events stand out as a pivotal point in life when you look back upon it. Today was one of those days. For many, Sept. 11th is a day of mourning. For me, I'm thankful that my father is alive.

In 2001, I had just graduated and was moving our house and my life from Westford, MA to Columbia, MD. The move was scheduled for early September because I was off traveling in Europe and Asia all summer. Dad had come to help with the move. He was to return to Taiwan on the 9am United flight.

When flying from Boston to Taiwan, and flying United, you have 2 choices for departure flights. It's either the 8am flight or the 9am flight. Those are the only 2 flights that will get you over to CA in time to catch the last flight across the Pacific. I remember thinking that morning that I was glad I had an extra hour to sleep in. Dad had flown the 8am the previous times he was back.

It was eerily quiet at Logan that morning. We got there 2 hours early and dad walked right up to the check in counter. No problems whatsoever. Usually, the check in line took an hour and they still had to pull him out of line because the flight was departing within the hour. We had a quiet breakfast in terminal C, watching the planes take off. Dad walked in through security and I left to drive home. I think we all know what happened after that.

I had just merged onto 128 from 93N when my phone rang. It was a little after 9 and my dad called. No one knew what was happening then. I couldn't find any news on the radio, and all they knew at the airport was that something happened and the World Trade Towers had collapsed. His plane was the next one on the run way when air traffic control grounded all planes. The next phone call came from my aunt in Taiwan. Funny how fast news travels these days.

But what if dad had been on the 8am flight like he had been in the past? If he had, he would've been one of the mourned in this public day of mourning. This difference of one hour could have also had a very big impact on my life. At that time, I was applying for a TS/SCI clearance for Raytheon into the NSA. That was why I had moved down here.

What happened for real

Because my father was living in Taiwan, even as an American citizen, the Dept of Defense would not approve my application for a clearance. This meant that there was no work for me at Raytheon's Linthicum site. I soon found a job at Raytheon Falls Church and began a Columbia, MD to Falls Church, VA commute. This commute lasted 6 months because it drove me nuts, and I couldn't take it. I moved to DC and eventually ended up in VA. I've met some interesting people that I still know. My job at Falls Church eventually ended up killing my soul and I changed to my current job. Bead Obsessions became my local bead shop and a "happy place". I also was inspired to knit, due to someone I met down here, and met some great people in my knitting groups.

If it had been the 8am flight

Dad would've been one of the people on one of the planes that went into the World Trade Center. I would not have had the immediate relative who lived outside of the country and the clearance would've gone through. I did actually have a morbid conversation with the security officer where he did admit that had he been on the 8am plane, my clearance would have been approved. It would have been unlikely that I moved to DC. I would not know the people that I know. I wouldn't even be such a regular at Bead Obsessions. I may be even more messed up and possibly, completely emotionally dead, instead of the partially dead that I am now.

So while events in life just kind of happen, there are some, when you look back, look like a fork in the road with two very different outcomes. Some you have a choice. Others, you don't. But I am thankful that he was on the 9am flight. He has a story to tell and I still have my dad. I think this was another incident where mom was looking out for us both.

Makeshift ball winder

I own a ball winder and a swift, but I hate the fact that I pretty much have to let balls of yarn hang free when trying to wind a center pull yarn because the ball doesn't fit on the swift.
This morning I experimented with something - an empty bottle + a fat dowel. You stick the fat dowel through the center of the ball, then stick the down in the empty bottle. Set the yarn up in the winder and go. It works on the same idea as the ball winder except with a much smaller center rod thingy. I'll put up a picture soon. Now I'm off to the train station.

Food, yarn, beads, Brooklyn

I'll be heading to Brooklyn this weekend to visit with my two Tims and eat! But, first, I will be stopping at some bead shops for some purse handles and frames, then at Habu Textiles to pick up a few things.
So, I've been surfing for some yarn stores, in case I need needles or something (yeah, that's it), and visited the website of Sarah's Yarns located in Brooklyn. I had first come across this website while reading the Simple Knitted Bodice KnitAlong and had kept them in mind because of their amazing prices for yarn. For a comparison, the JaggerSpun Zephyr 2/18 Lace Weight cones normally sell for about $50. So it disturbed me greatly to read about Tilli Tomas price fixing. Tilli Tomas is the recommended yarn for the Simple Knitted Bodice and it is expensive as all bleeping hell.

I should get to sleep soon.

Needles

I came home to Knit Picks Options Needles on my door set. I am a happy Judy tonight. Not only do I get needles, I get to label the plastic holders. Yay!

rantings

I've created a new blog for my general rants. It is here. I have also linked to it over on the side bar there. Instead of just a random rant like the previous post, these are actually recurring rants that I have. I figured I should just compile them in one place.

Death of the crocodile hunter

So, everyone knows, and if not, now you do, that crocodile hunter guy died by a sting ray point to the heart. Now, I know this is all courtesy of Fox 10 'o clock news, and just fox news, one should take with a grain of salt, and evening news is another grain of salt, but how many things can you find wrong with the following statement from their 10pm news commercial:
"We'll see who is the most affected by the death of this superhero."

I don't mean to rant. It's just that society is so silly sometimes. Now, back to crafty content.

Oak leaf pattern is a pain in the ass.
I'm also making progress on my bag for my secret pal.

Labor Day weekend in Ithaca

This weekend I went up to Ithaca. Partly to see how Tina was settling in and take her shopping and to dinner. Partly, to eat and buy wine. I like to support the Finger Lake wines. I had 2 items on my list...wines, and a fudgy chocolate cake from Wegman's. I had also wanted to go check out Knitting Etc., a new yarn shop. Well, they aren't that new. They just changed ownership and moved.
First stop upon my arrival was Northside Wines and Liquors. This is the main liquor store in Ithaca. And I bought:

One of the bottles was bought purely for bottle amusement purposes. It was < $10 and the bottle was just too cute:
Why yes, that does look like a cat. I think it's a riesling, as that's about all I made out of the words on the label. And if it sucks, hey, at least the bottle is cute.
So, there were 13 bottles. I only picked up 6 at the liquor store. 4 of the bottles are apple cider that I picked up from Bellwether Cidery. I stopped at a couple of wineries along Cayuga Lake. This was the second one. I had originally planned on going to Sheldrake Point and had driven past the Cidery on the way up. At Sheldrake Point, I bought 3 bottles...I believe they are destined to become sangria.
Saturday, I also picked up yarn:

This is all going to become a bag for my Tote Exchange pal. Well, I think there's actually enough to make 2. I'll be keeping the second one if I ever get around to it. This is all anyone is going to see of this until I"m finished and my pal has received the bag. I actually got a lot done over the weekend. It's knit double stranded and I had only wound 2 colors while at the shop thinking that's all I'd get through but the bag knit up a lot faster than I had anticipated.

Finally, I would like to tell you about cake. I have been thinking about this cake for a while, ever since I knew I was going to Ithaca. The first time I had it, it was for my birthday. It's a chocolate cake with a fudgy choclate frosting, pecans around the edge, and some caramel on top. Yes there are 2 Wegman's here in northern VA that doesn't require me to drive 6 hours each way to get to. No they do not have this cake, trust me, I've looked.
Tina and I arrived at Wegman's where I proceeded to cakes and did not see it. So I talked to a guy in bakery who said that why yes, they do still make it and there should be some out tomorrow or Monday or I could always order the cake. I went with ordering so that it was guaranteed to be there. Tina was a little surprised. Hey, I did come 6 hours to get this cake, I wasn't going home without it!


Overall, it was a good trip. I hate the long drive cuz it's long and it hurts my back. I did keep a Thermacare heat pack on my back for the drive back so that worked a lot better. The weather was cool and grey, typical Ithaca weather but SO refreshing from this crappy hot and humid weather we've had. Ithaca is magical and I did think, "Gee, it'd be a nice place to retire!" Can you just imagine me retiring to an artist's life in the land of hippies? Even if I don't retire there, for me, it's a getaway. I am familiar with the area. I have friends there. I can be on my own. For me it is refreshing to be there.

What to pack?

I'm headed up to Ithaca in the morning and I intend to go yarn shopping and start in on the bag. One would think that a yarn shop would have a swift and a ball winder so that you can buy and wind up your yarn immediately, so that you can get started immediately...right? That means I wouldn't have to pack my ball winder and swift...?

Yeah, this is a lot tougher than trying to make sure that I've got clothes.

Saturday Evening Edit: Yes, they had a swift and ball winder! Whoo hoo!

Inspired by others...

And by others, I mean Amber, I will also set my goals.
My project goals for Sept:

• Start and finish knitting my bag for my Tote exchange pal.


• Write up the pattern for beaded maple and oak leaves.


• Hmm...figure out pattern for oak leaves...


• Somewhat Cowl!


• Anna Socks!


• Beaded spiral necklace

Hmm...I think that might keep me busy for all of September.

I got a new toy!

It's a swift!

I took advantage of this week's 50% coupon at A.C. Moore and bought a swift before heading to the weekly Thursday night meeting of the Sweet Life Knitters. I'm knitted out tonight so I think I'll do a bit more beading.

Onward and upward?

Thanks everyone for you comments on the shawl! Lace is an interesting creature. After such a project, you really learn to read the stitches in your piece. This drastically cut down on problems before I got too far along. I didn't have to rip back to the life line that I carried.

Now, I'm moving on. I'm back to working on the Somewhat Cowl to get it done. I'm taking it one ball at a time, and I'm almost at the portion where I put the sleeves onto holders and work the body. That's exciting because right now, all the stitches are cramped up on my 24 inch needles and it's driving me nuts!

In other news, I'm still trying really hard to hold off on buying the Knit Picks Options set. This week, A.C. Moore has the 50% coupon. I think I'm headed to the Fairfax A.C. Moore to buy myself a swift.

Finished - Peacock Feathers Shawl

Friday, I brought the shawl with me to work so that I could prepare to block. I had planned on using the Yarn Harlot method of blocking. So I weaved in my ends and ran a line across the top.
Friday night, this was the scene:

Note that it is blocking on a queen sized mattress. I think I could use a king size in the future for blocking.


A bit more detail. There are pins across the top, down the center, and in each loopy thing along the sides.

Drumroll...

With a little help from Patricia, Mary, and Chris while at the bead store, we managed to take this picture. I photoshopped out the background. But the loopy things wouldn't stay flat.

A woman there asked if I made these for sale. Well...I'd do it if I judged you worthy. This is kind of like how a bank runs a credit check...this is a worthiness check. Patricia's answer to that woman was, "Do you have $10,000 lying around?" Yeah. I loved the lace, but it is time consuming and detail oriented.
But putting this on for the first time, I decided that I must make another one.

Details

Pattern: Fiddlesticks Knitting - Peacock Feathers Shawl
Yarn: JaggerSpun Zephyr - 50% Chinese Tussah silk, 50% fine Merino wool
Color: Cassis
Needles: Addi Turbo size 4

Almost done! Almost done!

I just crochet cast off the peacock feathers shawl. I'd go take a picture and post it but I'm really just too lazy to run upstairs to get the camera. Tomorrow night, I'll go pick up additional pins, and block. This shawl is off the needles!

Gasp! Diet.

I think it's time for a yarn/bead diet. me == :-(
Why? I have a lot of yarn. I have a lot of beads. I really need to use some of it up. And I really need to stop spending money so I can do things like...get a working oven. I think I am allowed to buy stuff like wire...cuz how else am I going to use up my beads? But I think the yarn diet portion will start after next weekend...after the Knit Happens end of summer sale.

Beading, knitting, and use of my hands

Legs were still a bit sore yesterday when I tried to go running. Then I spent a good say with my friend Shawn where we sat and caught up and beaded. I went up to her house up in Ellicott City, MD. I laced my way through sunflower petals and peony petals and moved onto knitting.
Knitting excitement: I'M ON THE EDGING! I'M ON THE EDGING! of the peacock feathers shawl! I'M SO EXCITED! I'M ALMOST DONE!!!!!!!
In other knitting, I'm thinking of signing up for International Tote Exchange II. I seem to be having a bag obsession lately. Signups close on Aug 25th so if any of you are interested, you should go, read the rules and sign up soon.

Catch up Post, with pictures!

I bought some storage for my beads at IKEA. These are working a lot better:


On Sunday, I went to Stitch DC Georgetown to check out the yarn sale and noticed they had Rowan Wool Cotton on sale. Monday night at SnB, I posed the question of "Should I go buy the Rowan Wool Cotton?" and Amber replied immediately with "Yes, ALWAYS YES!" before anyone could get a word in edgewise.
I had this Rowan design in mind. It's knitted. It involves beads. It's a corset styled top. Those three together bring me to my knees. For my size, I need 11 balls of Rowan Wool Cotton.

But if you count here, there are 13 balls. Well, I wanted one that's a little longer, and I wanted ruffles on the sleeves too, not just on the neckline. I think they cheated a little by not using ruffles on the neckline. So I got the 12th ball. But then, there was one remaining ball sitting there all lonely...so it also came home with me.
Damn you Amber!

Goings ons

Items for this week:
DC Restaurant week is going on this week.
A knitting group at Bead Obsessions this friday from 6pm-8pm.

20K is...

• 12.4 miles. For about the first 11.5 miles, I thought 20K = 12.8 miles. Imagine my happy surprise.
  
• Less than the distance from my house to Bead Obsessions if I take the Beltway


• Less than the distance from my house to work (in Rosslyn) if I take 395.


• The distance I ran this morning, for which I got my butt up at 5am and drove to Leesburg for.
  

Now I have an excuse to lie on my couch all afternoon and either knit or bead. Cuz I don't think I'll have much energy for much else. And I don't really have control of my feet at this point.

Lax in my blogging

All right, it's been a while. I'm lazy.

Socks

I have never had a reason to knit socks. I've been tempted lately by some of the knee socks patterns I've seen, but nothing has really pushed me over the edge. Until today. I picked up the latest copy of Rowan at Knit Happens cuz I was killing time before my Sunflowers class at Bead Obsessions and I had seen some of the pictures on their blog. And I saw these knee high socks and went "Ohhhhhhhhhhhh!". So then after my class, I went to Spring Water Fibers and bought yarn and needles. I'm thinking black knee socks with a pink ribbon through the top.

In other knitting news

I'm more than half way through chart 7 of the Peacock Feathers shawl. After that I have only the edging rows to do and then I can block! Whoo hoo!

Beads-teaching

I taught the first session of the Sunflower class and in the next two weeks, I also need to make all my parts. It is getting exciting to see the students improve on their skills and make pointier pointy leaves.

Beads-patterns

I'm excited because of something that happened today. Someone bought a pattern through my website: Judy Yiu Designs (the first purchase!) and it was someone I didn't know which means people I've never met actually read this blog since it's the only place where I have ever mentioned it. How exciting is that?!?!

And I started working on the pattern for the autumn leaves. I've got instructions for a maple leaf half written and I've got a picture for an oak leaf. We'll see how this goes. Hope to have it finished by October.

Beads-making

I've been having some inspiration problems lately. I'm still working on a second peony to go into my peony and Bells of Ireland arrangement. I've got vast numbers of unfinished flowers. Some unfinished cabochons. Some unfinished jewelry pieces. And not really knowing what I want to do.

For now...

It's a really early bedtime for me this Saturday since I'm running a 20K in Leesburg tomorrow morning...I think this means I need to leave my house by 5:30am. Ick. At least I'll have an excuse to spend the entire afternoon lying on my couch.

Peony!

I like peonies! I have a peony bush in my back yard but the flowers lasted for about a week. And then Donna came up with her peony pattern...and now I have visions of a peony and bells of Ireland arrangement in my living room. That will be coming in a few months :-)

But for now... Peony pattern by Donna DeAngelis Dickt. It even has a cute little bud. The pattern calls for 8 hanks of petal color beads.

Peony viewed from the top.


Peony viewed from the side.


Peony viewed from the back.


The cute little bud and leaves

Stitches East 2006 info

Info can be found here.

I signed up for Fair Isle Knitting with Amber from my SnB. This is for Saturday afternoon. I also signed up for Joy of Finishing to learn to better my skills at finishing off projects. This is going to be fun.

Too much work, not enough play time. I've moved onto my second ball of yarn for the Somewhat Cowl.
I also started researching road bikes.

Back on the bike again

It's like that saying about getting back on the bike...gee, I wish I could remember. Anyways, it's July and it's time for le Tour de France. For the last couple of years, in July, I start to obsessively watch le Tour. I only started watching yesterday (instead of July 1st) because I only got tv back yesterday. Tomorrow morning: Individual time trial. Yeah baby!
So I went bike riding after work today with some people from work, including my boss. Rosslyn to Old Town and back. I gotta tell ya, all those cycling classes I took in the last 3 years really came in handy! I'm not too sore yet but I guess I'll know for sure tomorrow. My upper back is sore cuz of the time spent hunched over. I even have the marks on my leg to show you of my biking adventure. Not bad for the first time on a bike in 10+ years.

Activities for the evening: today's Tour de France highlights and the Peacock Feathers shawl. I'm finishing up chart 5. Whee!!!!!!!!!

Then sleep for tomorrow morning's ITT! When are we gonna get to some mountains???

Stitches East, and Happy July 4th!

July 4th, I'm home. Yay!

Okay, now the important stuff :-)
Anyone interested in going to Stitches East with me? I'd like to take class or two over the weekend. It's the first weekend in November and I got my workshop mailing yesterday. More info can be found at Knitting Universe.

It smells like damp...ick

So, here are some scenes from my basement:


Yes that's right, the carpet is sitting on the recliner. Don't worry, I've got a layer of trash bags between the carpet and the recliner.

The carpet was glued to vinyl tiles (see below) that was glued to the tiles on the basement floor. When I pulled up this section of the carpet, it also pulled up the ugly vinyl tiles.

And now the story of the "Ugly Vinyl Tiles"

The left half of this picture, you see a design. That is the design of the ugly vinyl tiles that seem to be hidden underneath many of the floors in this house. Two years ago when I first moved in, I pulled up the carpet in what is currently my den. Underneath the carpet, I found these tiles glued down ON TOP of lovely hardwood floors. Why anyone would do that is beyond me. So imagine my surprise when I pulled up the carpet in the basement and find the same ugly ass vinyl tiles. The good thing about pulling up the carpets is that it pulled up a lot of them with it.
Now, the question is what to do? I can put the carpet back, but underneath is pretty messed up since parts of that tile is stuck to the floor and part is stuck to the carpet, so it won't exactly be even. I'm also thinking that tiling the entire basement over may be a better approach than carpet. If it floods again, it'll be easier to clean up.
Flood again? Well, if the water flows in faster than the sump pump can pump out, it will flood and according to the plumber, there isn't much anyone can really do about it.
So if I tile over, I'd like to do it myself cuz I'm just that kind of gal. But I'm not exactly sure how to prepare the floor. So sigh, I may have to get someone in here to actually do it.
Tile floor with some cheaper throw rugs that...well, if it floods, I can just throw them out. I must reexamine how I will go about refurnishing the basement.

More casualties

My basement.
For some reason, for which I need to call a plumber, my sump pump stopped pumping water. So what happens when the sump pump stops pumping water? the water goes out into your basement. I think I may need a new basement.
At least I managed to salvage my laptop and 2 digital cameras.
I think the tv is okay. It's a good thing I had unplugged everything just before I had gone upstairs to do some dishes. And it's not like I'm worried about my Tivo since that's already dead.
So tomorrow, I'm taking a mental health day to clean out my basement. Wah!
Current count of casualties:

1. internet connection - fixed now - they had to replace the entire box where the line was coming into the house and the battery was
2. Dish alignment
3. Tivo
4. Stove electric controller - but I can still cook, it's runs on propane
5. my basement.

and the peacock feather shawl got caught up in the flood. I freaked out at first but reminded myself that when I'm done, I usually like to wash things in woolite to wash off whatever crap got caught up in the fiber while knitting...so I'm gonna let it dry out and then I can continue on...

Casualties from the storm

Thursday night, as I went to sleep, a very pretty, but loud light storm was beginning. My lights were wavering for a bit so I decided to set the alarm on my cell phone. Well, good thing I did cuz the power went out for a bit.
I woke up and heard a beeping sound that didn't sound like my cell phone...and for some reason, I decided to turn on my computer...and found my internet was out...and the beeping was the low...and it was not recharging. Boo. So, silly me, I know I have electricity but I decided to see what else was dead. Well, Tivo was dead. Wah! and my dish needs realignment.
Later last night, I glanced over at the stove and realized that something didn't look right. Well, it looks like the storm fried the electronic control panel on it as well. My neighbor came in and helped me pull in out and unplug it but no such luck.
I finally just got internet back after sitting here waiting for 2 days. Sigh.

How do I knit?

This past Sunday, I took a class on continental knitting at Springwater Fibers in Alexandria. Now, I've got to tell you, I was very enthusiastic for class but I walked away from the class REALLY REALLY skeptical. I think it's due to the fact that continental knitting is supposed to be faster and more efficient. The thing is that just from the way I am, I always try to maximize efficiency in my movements. When I knit English style, I don't really move my hands much, other than to move the yarn over the needle. With the continental style, my hands have to open and close. And because the yarn is held in my left hand and my left hand really isn't all that mobile, I'm slower in tensioning and controlling. Due to this fact, while for most people, doing ribbing becomes a lot easier, I don't think I would find this to be true for me. Boo. Seriously, I study my movements. I mean, it all comes back down to that first theorm you learned in geometry class: "The shortest distance between 2 points is a straight line." I try not to to expend extra unnecessary effort. Yes I am that lazy. But that's what makes me good at what I do.
But I have started the Somewhat Cowl to see how this goes. I shall report in periodically. It's been a long week and I finally have a moment to breathe, so I think I'm going to hop into bed early and go knit some more on the sweater.

Priorities

Monday night is knitting night. Tonight also happened to be game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals. That's hockey, for those who don't know any better. I skipped knitting and watched the game with a couple of friends at a sports bar down town. Yup, that's where my priorities are...

Another week at the bead shop

That was the post class picture at Bead Obesssions yesterday. I brought in the 3 sunflowers on the right so everyone could see the class for next quarter. The purple gerbera is the shop piece and the brown/red one in the same vase was the one I was using to demonstrate how to assemble. The two on the left (peach and blue) are made by students. They look good. The thing I really like about this pattern is that no matter how well you make the parts of the flower, when you assemble it, it looks really good. Most of my students are beginners.
I love class. Everyone uses different beads and there are some colors that you never think about using, like this blue gerbera daisy. Sure, they exist in real life but who would've thought. The woman who made it loves blue. The peach one, the center, she used beads from Toho's amber series and it looks awesome.

Hockey and Beads

Stanley Cup playoffs. I had pretty much forgotten about the NHL after the college hockey season ended. I picked it up again in time for the Stanley Cup finals. If Carolina had won on Saturday, I would be skipping knitting tomorrow night to watch what could've been Carolina sweeping the series. Since they lost, I think I'll be going to knitting, but I don't know if I'll be knitting. I may be putting together a sunflower.
I'd like to have the sunflowers done by Saturday so I can bring them in for the second part of the gerbera daisy class. I'd also like to have parts made for a gerbera daisy. I'd also like to be able to get to the gym and do some running. It's going to be a busy week!
And I took the intro PMC class today. That was pretty cool. I think I could easily get into it. There is definite potential and it doesn't quite have the mess of working with regular silver and solder where you have to solder, and then worry about all the silver dust from the sanding and everything.

Forgetfulness

I went to yoga with my knitting, thinking I'd arrive early so would have time to sit around, wait, and knit. Well, I didn't. Afterwards, I walked to Cosi to grab lunch and as I was exiting Cosi, something felt missing. Well, it was my knitting. To be specific, the Peacock Feathers shawl. I think I left it in the studio. Hopefully, it will be there Tuesday night.

Well, I guess I'm beading tonight. Need to bead anyways. Must make demo pieces for Bead Obsessions for the next quarter. I'll be teaching the usual mini rose as the intro class, but also, I'll be teaching Donna's sunflower which is really exciting. I'll also be teaching a beaded cabochon class with Patricia. I'll be demonstrating how to bead the cabochon and she'll be demonstrating the actual necklace portion. Ideally, I'd like to have all of this done by the end of June... Yeah, it's probably a good thing that I've decided to just buy stuff for my relatives instead of making them stuff.

Catching up

First up...Ene's shawl finished.
Pattern: Ene's Shawl from Scarf Styles
Yarn: Misti Alpaca Laceweight in a dark chocolate brown
Needles: Size 2 Addi Turbos



Work was interesting yesterday. I got to stare out the window onto a pretty interesting view. Today was the 9th Annual CSC Invitational and the official race hotel was the Hyatt right next door to us at work...so all the equiptment trucks were parked in our parking garage. I had to move my car to a lower level for fear of not being able to get it out last night. However, I did get to spend a day looking at scenes like these (and yes, those are right out of my office window):

mmm...yummy

A pattern after my own heart from Stitch Diva Studios. Of course I bought it.

For every end, there is a new beginning

I finished Ene's Scarf! I'll try to get a better picture this weekend. Then, I started in on the Fiddlesticks Knitting's Peacock Feather's Shawl...



And I had gone to the Gem and Jewelry Show....ooo, dangerous place. I bought a few cabochons and I also bought this ring:



I'd never liked large clunky rings but this really called out to me. There is a booth at the Gem and Jewelry Show that sells amber jewelry and they sell the pieces based on weight. I was drawn to the rings and found this one. The amber itself is gorgeous but add to that the bright, shiny stirling silver, AND the design of the ring and setting...the prongs are good enought draw blood! I was a sucker to its seductive calls.

And in case you didn't think I was busy enough...I also took the beginning chain class at Bead Obsessions and made these chains:


From top to bottom: the 3 in 3, flower basket, and byzantine chains. I like I like I like!

Knitting software

So, I've been looking for some sort of an html editor that is designed more towards programmers and crazies who actually want to write their own html, and not of the WYSIWYG variety. Those drive me nuts. I think I found a nice little editor in jEdit that is about 1 step above Notepad which is what I'm currently coding in. For the record, I hate FrontPage. I can't stand it. And like any other Microsoft product that you write code in, it adds in this extra crap.
I found jEdit over at sourceforge.net which is mainly a repository of open source applications. And as I was surfing around to see what sorts of random pieces of software there were out there, I wondered if there was another insane knitter out there who had started an open source piece of software to design knitted garments. The answer was no.
So now I"m wondering...what would it take to start an open source knit design software? I don't know if I quite have the capabilities to do it since then, it would become my third job (job 1: software developer. job 2: crafty beady lady) and I really don't need to have 2 jobs that overlap so much. Hmm...ponder ponder.

What is this?

It's from a company called Sei Water...yup, that's right, that's water in a plastic flask. I found it at Balducci's and was really amused by it.

What is this?

It's from a company called Sei Water...yup, that's right, that's water in a plastic flask. I found it at Balducci's and was really amused by it.

The first cabochon necklace

I'm getting around to these pictures. It is a lot easier now that I can pop out the memory card and stick it directly into the computer.
I'm not really sure what the stone is but this was my first attempt at a beaded cabohon. Picot bezel. The necklace itself is made from a combination of a double spiral and a single spiral technique and it all reminded me of chocolate as I was making it. I didn't think this was quite my style of necklace when it was first finished but I have grown to love it. 4

To New Orleans and Back

In smaller news, I just bought another digital camera. It's smaller and fits more easily into my pocket and uses and SD memory card for which my computer has a slot for. That kind of takes away excuses to not post more pictures.

Ene's scarf - in theory, there are fewer and fewer stitches on my needle. I think I'll believe it when I bind off.

My first impression of New Orleans was made when I stepped off the plane. It was really hot. I got up at 5am and in the airport at 6 for my 6:45 flight. I had one of those horrific headaches when the plane arrived in New Orleans. Ick.
Jazz Fest was great. There are many reasons people are there. Me, I think primarily, it was the food. I am a food addict and compulsive eater after all. There was so much good food. All the shrimp and crawfish and po boys. Couchon au Lait Po Boy was every bit as good as everyone said. And then there were these ribs with white beans and rice and cole slaw, mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm! And to drink, well, I was addicted to the strawberry lemonade. These were also great when you added some vodka, rum, or both to it!
Music. Zydeco music is pretty good. I think I can only take so much of it. I do like some of the old time stuff. Gospel...that tent was a little freaky as the people in there, according to my friend Mark, were high something, but it's not alcohol or drugs. I didn't catch much of Jimmie Buffet. We were watching Nathan and the Zydeco Cha Chas. Nathan (the main guy) had a 6 year old son who was playing the wash board. Then he had him play the drums for a song and wow! That kid was amazing. I'd love to see him in 20 years. Irma Thomas - I liked her. Paul Simon, that was a great set too. Didn't get to see Fats Domino. He was on the way to the hospital during Paul Simon's set. Instead, Lionel Ritchie ended up playing the Acura stage and while you would think he'd be cheesy, it was actually pretty good.
Saturday night, we had some really good African food in the French Quarter, even though we had to wait 2 hours and didn't start eating til sometime after 11pm. Then John (the local) took us to his Irish/80s bar where the band featured the sister of his infamous Lolita. I was half asleep there until they started doing Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead or Alive" and I perked back up briefly.
Sunday night found us wandering out by John's place for a bite to eat and then just sitting around. I left Monday and missed the trip back to the quarter and Yo Mama's burgers. That's kind of sad.

Pictures. I didn't bring my camera. However, I point you to Mark's Flickr account where he has pictures of stuff, including me asleep at various times at JazzFest.

knitters at Victoria's Secret?

Tubey is still on the needles and there are no new updates.
But I was shopping Victoria's Secret website since I do have a $10 card I need to use before May 15 and came across this that made me think of Tubey. Kinda makes me go "hmm....I wonder if the designer was a knitter..."

So, I continue onward into the sweater section and come across something that reminds me of Angelina. As a refresher, this is the Angelina sweater.

I am, however, considering buying this. I figure it will be another in the "layer over my bra shelf tank top" collection.

In actual knitting news, I did purchase the pattern for the somewhat cowl. I figured it was inevitable since I'm planning on knitting that as my first continental knitting project, after my class at Springwater Fibers in June.

Ebb and flow...

My moods come and go, and this applys to the crafty things I do as well. Ene's Scarf is moving along. I have finished the first repeat of chart 3. I have 4 more to go. The good news is that according to the book, I am now under 300 stitches. I'm not really going to bother to go back and do that.
Flowers...I taught another class today and it went well. I think I'm getting better at this. Each time, I remember difficulties people had and I try to use it. I do want to get back to flower beading soon, but first I want to finish Ene's Scarf and start in on the Peacock Feathers shawl.
Gerbera, yes, the pattern is done (finally!).
But what I really want to do...well, there are two things. First, I want to get my own domain for the beady things and go play with it. I think in some ways, work isn't enough. I want to come home and continue doing it. I guess I could start off working on the style sheet and get my colors and fonts in order. I can study my current blog template and see how I can incorporate that into my final vision.
I've also been playing around with google calendar this week. It's pretty cool. You have your main calendar, and then you can overlay additional calendars on top. I've got my own schedule and I've got the US Holidays overlay. This morning, I came up with the brilliant idea of overlaying my calendar with the Bead Obsessions calendar. It drives me nuts to see the class listing because it's in alphabetical order on the website. I need something in calendar form so I can see what there is today, or for the coming week. To do that, I either have to go into the shop, or come home and pull out my hard copy calendar, or search through email for the pdf of the hardcopy. And you all know I'm lazy and how I'd rather spend a few hours coding...so that I don't have to do this stuff again. So I started reading up on XSL and XSLT. Ah...personal enrichment exercise.
It's true. If I didn't do this stuff for a living, I'd be not sleeping and doing it in my spare time.

Friends don't let friends...

...knit drunk. So the voices in my head said, "you should bead!" so I am.

The geek emerges again

I like the new template. But I can't stop thinking about tweaking the template, and it has me up at nearly midnight looking at the source code and trying to figure out all the css and the blog tags. Maybe I need another day job? But, like my boss said, if I weren't messing around with code for my day job, I'd probably be doing it at night. I just get to get it out of my system 8 hours a day.

Second finished cabochon necklace

And I haven't even posted pictures of the first!

Well, the cabochon is a piece of diachroic glass I had bought at the gem and jewelry show earlier this year. I backed it against ruby colored felt to bring out the red. The seed beads used where size 8 Tohos and delicas in a gold/topaz tone to bring out the gold specks in the glass.


This is the whole necklace. There are certainly aspects of this I would do again and wished I had paid more attention, like paying more attention that the thread had not gotten tangled up in beads in certain parts of this necklace. Fortunately, you can't really tell.


Here's a close up picture.

Finished - Angelina Sweater

I finally got around to taking some pictures this weekend. First up is Angelina. no, you do not get to see my head. Head and legs are cut off. And note that these were taken of myself in the mirror. Sorry if they look like crap. I'm really pleased with how this sweater turned out. I wish it were maybe a couple of inches longer but I'm not going to complain.

Yarn and Pattern from White Lies Designs. The yarn is a wool/mohair blend in an ivory/eggshell color. Needles used were size 5 clovers, and size 7 and size 10 Addis.

Other knitty thoughts

So, I'm planning a trip to Taiwan to visit family in November. I've also been eyeing the Fiddlesticks lace shawl patterns. It is late April. If I chose something on the simple side, or maybe the intermediate level...okay, I'm thinking the Peacock Feathers shawl...would I have time to make 6 of them? And maybe some sort of a thin scarf for my grandfather? Will I have gone crazy by the end of this? Hmmmm....

New Look...and some progress

Yup, I got a new look. I wanted some lighter colors so I searched the web and found this template called "Tickle". Pretty neat!

Made some progress (again) on Ene's scarf. I am now done with 16 rows. Time to lifeline again before I move on.

I'm hoping to finish up with the gerbera daisy pattern and be done with that once and for all this weekend. Otherwise, rainy weekend. Do some laundry. Work on some projects.

Enes progress

Row 11. Urg.
This basically goes back to where I was before the start of the annual homeowner's meeting. Urg. At least I lifelined.

Work smarter, not over and over again

I finally am progressing (knock on wood) with ene's shawl. Once the Misti Alpaca starts to work up....oooh, does it feel nice!
I attended the annual home owner's meeting for my neighborhood and I am apparently remembered as "the smart girl who brought knitting to the meeting last year cuz she was the only one who got anything accomplished that night". I can't help it if I fall asleep listening to lectures or presentations if my hands aren't moving! I"m currently on row 14 of the first set of charts. Whee!

The complaining post

Things to moan and bitch about today.
1. I was working on Ene's Scarf...happily going along on row 11..12..13...wait...I dropped a stitch...how did I miss that? So what do I do, I decide to venture down 2 rows to see if I can pick the stitch back up. Oh, and I was living on the wild side by not having a lifeline. URG!

I think I will be starting over again for the 4th time. URG! I can not buy a Fiddlesticks shawl pattern until I do Ene's scarf. I think it's time to rewind the Mista Alpaca laceweight. And I should not be too proud, or daring, or whatever to use a lifeline.

2. I went to Tyson's to go to Hechts to see about a bag. Tyson's was closed. My first thought..."WTF kind of hick place to do I live where they still close for a religious holiday???? Time to move north!" Still, I"m annoyed. Heck, if they needed someone to keep the stores open, I would've worked! And I wasn't the only one out and about at the mall. There were lots of others out there. The only portion open was the new end...and even more specifically, the Barnes and Noble and the restaurants around it. Bastards.

Giggity giggity

I'm just excited. I'm not Quagmire from Family Guy. I'm excited that Angelina is seamed. I've got a couple of loose ends to weave in and it will be done, DONE!

I started a new beaded cabochon yesterday at bead and chocolate. The cab itself is set now. At some point, I need to make the necklace part. Patricia and I discussed doing a beaded cabochon class. That will be exciting...and give me an excuse to go buy some cabs over on Fire Mountain and make some pretty necklaces.

I need to finish up...

• the gerbera daisy pattern


• beaded hydrangea


• Charlotte's Web


• Ene's Scarf - though I just started this

Seaming and Steaming

I bound off the last edge of Angelina last night. Tonight, as I watched Kill Bill Vol1 for the first time, I was weaving in ends, as a distraction from the endless slaughter and flowing of blood. I just finished steam blocking the lace edgings. Tomorrow, I'll pick it up and seam. I should be done before the weekend is over if all goes well. Whee!

Angelina-almost

Angelina-almost
Originally uploaded by jyiu7.

So, I thought it was time to take a picture. I've still got all the ends to sew in but I finished the collar and the lower edge. The body itself didn't make any sense until I realized that it's more like a shrug in construction...one of those that you knit in 1 long rectangluar piece and sew up the sides except for the middle. I used safety pins to pin the front and back together so I could try this on and get a feeling for how long the sleeves are. Now I'm working on the lace edgings for the sleeves. I'll have to try this on again to make sure I've got the sleeve length okay.

ballwinder

ballwinder
Originally uploaded by jyiu7.

I finally got a ball winder, and it helped after I read the instructions. I'm not sure how I managed to live without it!
The first ball of yarn that I wound was Koigu for the Charlotte's Web shawl...currently in a hold state.

Tough Choice

I think I may have to choose between the MD Sheep and Wool Festival and New Orleans JazzFest. MD Sheep and Wool will be there next year. My friend in New Orleans is moving to Germany in June...sniff...I'm leaning towards New Orleans.

LET'S GO RED!

I didn't touch Angelina today. I was instead working on Ene's Scarf until I realized that my size 3 needles are a little big. And then I switched to Charlottes's Web. And what happens. We come back from 2 and beat Colorado College 3-2.
I wonder how much of Charlotte's Web will be done by the time this weekend is over. I've been watching these games since noon today. Two more games tomorrow, starting at 2:30.

Next up!

Photos of some finished necklaces to come. Anglina sweater is on pause for the weekend. I was knitting it through the games all last weekend and we lost to Harvard. While our chances are slim to none in a game against a team that has a better offense (compared to none for us), I'm not taking any chances. I'm going with all superstitions!
So instead, I'm going to start Ene's Scarf from Scarf Styles and use some of the Misti Alpaca in a dark chocolate brown I had bought.

Been a while

So much to do, not enough time.

Here's something interesting I came across:

What kind of yarn are you?

You are Shetland Wool. You are a traditional sort who can sometimes be a little on the harsh side. Though you look delicate you are tough as nails and prone to intricacies. Despite your acerbic ways you are widely respected and even revered.
Take this quiz!

For those that know me, sounds kinda like me, eh?

Otherwise, in the works...
I must finish my double spiral for class tomorrow night, along with the cabochon I want on it.
I'm finishing the left front of Anglina and after that's done, I can start in on the lace edges. And currently, we are into March Madness but no basketball for me! Give me men's division 1 college hockey! whee! Cornell's in Green Bay and unfortunately, I can't go to the land of the cheeseheads.

Yarn sale!

At Handworks Gallery. Some good stuff in there. I want more lace weight yarn! The question is...when am I going to get to it?

Lace Knitting

For anyone interested in lace knitting, check out Eunny Knit!. She's starting a lace knitting tutorial. I found this blog while surfing the Knitting Olympics website. I fell in love with the frosted flowers shawl she made and the color of the yarn used was amazing!

When knitting comes in handy...

So, we're getting ready to move from the 8th floor to the 4th floor of our building at work. Today, we spent some time trying to figure out how to arrange furniture and if things would fit. My boss walks out and asks, "on the off chance...do either of you have a tape measurer?" I'm about to reply no when I realized..."Wait, I'm knitting to 11.5 inches on Angelina's sleeve so I keep breaking out the tape measurer which I keep with it in the bag." so out came the tape measurer and I think everyone was slightly amused that yes I do keep a 60 inch tape measurer on me.