Je suis fini!

You know, there is something to be said for "stick-to-it-iveness". I told myself a couple of months ago that these projects that have been haunting my desk for the last year HAD to go. Now, I wasn't real hip on just ripping them out and moving on since the projects were so close to being done. After finishing the "Black Hole" capelet I mentioned a few posts ago I figured I was invincible. No black hole was going to suck anymore stitches or rows out of my hard work. And LOOK!!!!!!! I finished the "Black Hole" summer tee! I realize that summer is pretty much over, but see, I had started this LAST summer hoping that I could wear it THIS summer. If I hadn't given in to the black hole I would have worn it this summer. Oh, well. It's still hot here so I will get to wear it a few times before it gets too cold.

Now, not only can knitting projects get sucked into black holes, but I have discovered that spinning projects can get sucked in as well. I have had this fiber (and eight other bags of it) for about two years. If I would just sit down and spin the yarn would get produced a lot faster, but knitting and housework have a way of interferring something terrible. However, after much persevering, the final bag is spun!!!!!! Yeah! I am ever so happy to finally be done with this stuff. Don't get me wrong, the money was good, but the fiber was awful!!!!! I have officially sworn off scratchy wool. (For those of you that aren't in the know--not all wool is scratchy--there is wool out there that I could easily pass off to you as cotton or silk or alpaca or leave you wondering what magical creature grows that soft, luxurious fiber that your socks or sweater is made out of).
So, now I can start a few new projects! Yeah! I love new projects. That means new YARN! and I really love new yarn. Oh! and new knitting books!! I love new knitting books! In fact, in anticipation of finishing all of this I ordered a bunch of NEW stuff. I will "show and tell" when it gets here.

Happy Knitting!!

Dog to the Vet

I have to take our dog to the vet today. No big deal right? It's not like what you have to go through to take the cat to the vet--all the craziness that proceeds even getting the cat in the car. However, though the dog is easily entreated to get in the car, she becomes a complete idiot as soon as we get out to go into the building. Actually, getting her into the C-A-R is interesting as well. She is about 100 pounds of nervous dogginess and I have a compact car. She litterally fills the back seat. Anyway, so we get out at the office and she imediately forgets that she is on a leash. Which dislocates my shoulder and tears all the muscles in my arm and shoulder area. Then we see another dog and the race is on. Now, normally Sierra (my dog) is well behaved--she doesn't bark unneccessarily or run away or do anything naughty (well REALLY naughty anyway, she got into my yarn one time and ate a bunch of it--I don't like to talk about what happened so let's just say that I threw yarn at her, screamed at her until I was hoarse, and then she spent the night outside in the dark by herself), but being in the presence of so many people and other dogs she loses all control and discipline. She is what I call a "High Need" animal. Which means that she wants to be petted by everyone that is within her sight and have all of the attention of all of the other animals that are around. This makes for an extremely irritating wait in the waiting room--not just for me, but for everyone. She pants and whines and lunges at people and whines and pants some more. By the time we are put into a room and they take her temperature she appears to be sick because she is running a temperature. She goes from wanting everyone to touch her to trying to hide in my lap at the sight of the vet. Which for a dog her size is not possible.

By the time I get home I am covered in dog hair and slobber and stink like a sweaty dog.

Well, we have to leave at 11:00 so I guess I better gear up. Here we go.........

My Favorite Time of the Year Starts Today!

I am so happy that it is finally September! I love autumn! There is just something about the leaves turning all shades of yellow, orange, and red, the weather cooling off, the feel of the air that I look forward to every year. I was out shopping the other day and all of the craft stores have the Halloween decorations out. For those of you that don't know this--I LOOOOOVVVVVEEEEE Halloween!!!!!!!!!! It is my favorite holiday. What's not to love? You get to dress up in fun costumes, eat lots of chocolate, and decorate your house with all sorts of fun spooky decorations. (As soon as mine is decorated I will post pictures!)

Of course, the best part of autumn--aside from Halloween--is with cooler weather comes a need for all of those divine, lucious, hand-knit sweaters, socks, mitten, hats, scarves, etc. YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and you all know how I feel about that! I can't wait!

Unfortunately, it is still getting up to the 90's (F) during the day--no sweaters yet! The other day we had a simply beautiful late summer "gully washer" (that's where it pours rain for about 30 minutes and washes all of the gutters and gullies out!). As you can see from the picture it not only washed out my gutters but it flowed up into my yard to wash out my rock "gully". There is a nice sidewalk in front of the wood pieces under all of that water.
My Son decided he wanted to go play in the water. By this time the rain had stopped, but the "gully washer" was still flowing really nicely!--into my yard.

It didn't take long for it to go back down. Now all that's left is a nice layer of silt in my rock yard.

I thought I would put a couple of pictures of the yarn that is appearing in my etsy store over the next few days. The first picture if of some superwash wool sock yarn in "Rocket Red". This is great sock yarn! I love how the colors turned out!

This is superwash wool sock yarn as well and it is in the color "Summer Daze". It reminds me of sitting a the pool under the shade trees in the grass watching my kids swim. It knits up into nice little two row stripes with little white spots here and there that look like clouds.

I have more, but I still need to get pictures of them. Check out my etsy store--the link is in the side bar under "My favorite places" and click on the "Find my patterns...etc".

Happy knitting! Happy Fall!

My Knitting Fairy

My HoneyBunny and I were out shopping the other day and he found this adorable little fairy for me.

She has the sweetest little expression on her face! It's because she is knitting, of course. The little spool has a couple of buttons and a lady bug at the bottom. This was the best picture I could get of her--she is tiny! Anyway, I couldn't help but share this cute little figurine with the world. It's not everyday that you find little knitting knick-knacks. I love her!

Happy Knitting!

What a week!

The past week has been exhausting! Finally after 9 months of fighting a workman's compensation insurance company HoneyBunny got his final spine surgery ok'd. So Wednesday afternoon he went in. His condition has improved so much it's amazing. The results are much better than we had anticipated and we are so happy. Here is a picture of the screws that have been holding his lower vertebrae together for the last 2 1/2 years. (Sorry, yes I realize they are huge and that it is gross to imagine those screwed into someone's back bone.) I think that if they showed you the screws they were going to use before they put them in that the majority of the patients would chicken out of the surgery.
For some reason I thought that this surgery would allow me an obnoxious amount of knitting time, but the whole thing took so little time that I haven't had hardly any time to knit. I was in the waiting room only 20 some minutes when I was summoned to meet with the doctor. Then he was only in the hospital over-night (Note* the last two times he was in surgery for 5 hours then the next time 3 hours and spent 4 days and then the next time 5 1/2 days in the hospital). It's is nice to have things turn out right for once though!

I am almost finished with spinning the scratchiest wool on the planet--thank goodness! I am going to have to attempt to repeat the color on some of my soft and lovely wool. It is so beautiful! I am very fond of deep, rich blue colors anyway. I also have to get my socks for Sockamania finished!! I only have 3 days left.

I guess I better get back to work!!
Happy Knitting!

The Last of the "Steel" Wool...for now

I am finally finishing the last bag of that awful wool fiber I mentioned in a post a few months ago. Here it is ready to dye.

The tools. It's going to be pretty!

It turned out a beautiful denim blue! I have several skeins spun up. Remember, looks can be deceiving...

I love the color! It turned out so good! It's a shame...you could scrub baked-on cheese out of a pan with it.

My Philosophy

I have long thought, believed, and expressed to others the idea that everyone can (and should) knit. I have told countless beginners, as they struggled with each stitch, that within their DNA is a knowledge of how this works.

Here is my thinking: starting about a hundred years ago and then going backwards in time everyone knit, crocheted, spun yarn, and wove fabric for clothing. After all, if you didn't do one or all of these things you were wearing animal skins or running around in your birthday suit. When you needed socks, for example, there was no Target or Wal-Mart to go to and purchase a nice six-pack of white, cotton tube socks. You either made yourself a pair, was lucky enough to have a wife that had extra time on her hands (HA, HA!) and would make you a pair, you were royalty with tons of money at your disposal and you would pay the Master Knitter in the town to make you a pair, or you simply went without and had cold feet (which would be a real problem if you happened to live somewhere that was cold). Say you needed a winter hat, mittens, long johns, a warm coat (sweater), etc. Where would you get it? You made it! EVERYONE did this! That means that everyone on the planet today had ancestors that knew how to do this hand work.

**By the way, I am not the only person who believes this. I picked up Elizabeth Zimmerman's (for you non-knitters, Elizabeth is one of THE most well known knitters in the last 100 years) book "Knitters Almanac" the other day and was surprised, and pleased, to read that she believed this also. This book is really good and should be a part of every knitter's library! No wonder she is so revered. Not only was she a talented and accomplished knitter, but she was witty, clever, and very no-nonsense-straight forward. My kind of person!

So, somewhere hidden in your DNA is the ability and knowledge of how to knit, spin yarn , crochet, etc. If you haven't tried it, you should, and don't worry...your hands will remember what to do.

A "Black Hole" Project is Finally Finished

In her book "Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Casts Off" Stephanie describes a phenomena that occurs quite regularly in knitting called "Black Holes". I am sure many of you have experienced this. It occurs very frequently when you are just starting to learn how to knit--which is why so many beginners give up. What happens is you find a great project, that may or may not be a large project, that you are just dieing to make. You cast on, with great anticipation of the end result, and begin knitting furiously. You knit for several hours or even days and suddenly notice that you have only knit one or two inches into the item. Confused, you get annoyed, but you knit on, now obsessed with making progress. Hours and hundreds of rows or rounds later you stop and take another measurement. Still only about two inches. Very annoyed and feeling a little on the edge you now attack the knitting project. You may find yourself murmuring incoherently and bursting out in swear words occasionally at this point. Days, perhaps weeks have past. Dishes are piled high in the sink, no one has clean underthings to wear, and the children are cowering, white-haired gnomes that scamper about fearful everytime they sense another out burst coming from you. The husband has even given up asking if you will be cooking ever again and has assumed his position on the couch with the remote and a delivery pizza next to him. Suddenly you snap out of it, sort-of, and realize that you have a black hole project--a project that sucks all of the stitches you create into itself without ever getting bigger.

I have had just such a project for the last year or so (I have lost count of the exact amount of time because of how long it has taken). This was not a difficult project. It used decent sized needles--US 7, and aran weight yarn. It only needed to get to 11 inches before the shoulder decrease then 2 1/2 inches more in the pattern and three rows of ribbing. Simple right? So I thought. After knitting the first three inches I noticed that no matter how long I worked on this project I had clearly quit making progress. So when I snapped out of the insanity that a black hole project creates, I set the project aside on my desk. I have made 20 or 30 pairs of socks, two sweaters, several washcloths, and who know what else in an effort to get over the effects that this black hole project brought on.

I was feeling pretty confident about finishing a few months ago so I began knitting again. I did make some progress so I pushed on. Suddenly discovering that it was swallowing rows faster than I could knit them I immediately stopped and put it away--thus preventing the "crazy" cycle from starting all over.

So, I started my Sockamania project, finished the pair of socks that I featured in the last post, and did a bunch of housework.

Several days ago, feeling good about the project again, I said, "That's it! I am finishing this project and getting it off of my desk if it's the last thing I do!" A little dangerous I realize, but I was feeling a little rebelious, dangerous, on the edge--so what the heck--I pick it up and furiously attacked the project. Twenty-four hours later......TA-DA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's a lovely pattern. And my daughter totally loves it, even telling me thank you--as if I made it for her.

The pattern is in Interweave Press "Wrap Style". It is called "Spiral Shell" and the designer is Deborah Newton. She makes no mention of it being a potential "Black Hole" project so I will have to assume that I am the only one that experienced it with this pattern. I would offer one bit of advice, when you get to the ribbing, I would go one or two needle sizes smaller to knit it and then cast off pretty tight. I did not and had to put elastic thread though the top so that it would stay put.

The next "Black Hole" project.......

It's a great t-shirt, I just can't seem to get any farther.

How about you...any black holes in your knitting universe lately?

Knitting Forever!

My How Time Flies

Well, I do apologize. I did not realize that it has been almost two weeks since I posted. School is getting ready to start and that is a very crazy time of the year for me. School clothes shopping, school supply shopping, birthday present shopping, grocery shopping, and shopping. I used to love shopping about 20 some odd years ago. Now it's just not as much fun--spending my own money instead of someone else's changes the whole experience.

So, I had a birthday. I will neglect to mention which one, but as you can see from the picture I don't look too bad for my age--and no plastic surgery! There is something to be said for eating right (who am I kidding!? I believe in dessert first!) and taking care of your skin from a very young age.

I had a great week of--yes, you guessed it--shopping, going out to lunch with my daughter, and HoneyBunny took me for a beautiful drive, sent me the flowers that you see there on the table, and just spoiled me rotten with gifts (as usual). I even got a couple of new knitting books and some yarn--imagine that!
So I made him some socks. I love to knit for him! He thinks that I am the most talented, clever, and perfect woman on earth because I knit socks for him. Who doesn't want to knit for someone like that?

I must confess though that I am neglecting several WIP'S (that's Work In Progress for you non-knitters) that are beginning to complain loudly that I am avoiding them. I hope to work on them this week. However, I joined the Sockamania club and am thoroughly enjoying the socks I am making for it! I am a compulsive sock knitter, I admit it. I can't help it! You would think after making so many that I would get sick of them and stop for a while--not so!!! I just break it up by having three or four pair going at once and then mix it up with a poncho, sweater, and capelet or two.

It's terrible, my desk never collects dust because the surface is always covered with WIP's of all sizes and shapes.

The Shawl is Finished (Applause)

So, here it is. All finished and ready to go. It turned out so nice that I had a hard time giving it away. My daughter also loved it--I am sure she will see one for herself for her birthday.
I believe I mentioned the specifics in a previous post, but just in case I didn't give all of them: the pattern was from "Vogue Knitting Shawls--on the go!" pgs. 68-69. The designer was Veronica Manno and the name of the pattern is "Vine-stitch Wrap". The entire book has wonderful patterns! I definately recommend this for anyones' collection of patterns. I added a pattern repeat, so there are 7 rows of vines. I also went up a needle size in order to get the gauge correct.

I also made it a few inches longer than the pattern called for. The yarn was KnitPicks Main Line (75% pima cotton, 25%merino wool). A little warm for Summer time (unless you are trying to be comfortable in a doctors office, restaurant, theatre, etc where they think you need to feel like you are in an ice box!), but it will serve its purpose for the special person that is waiting for it in Washington State.

Here is a close-up of the patterning. So simple to make, yet it looks difficult. Not bad for my first lace shawl ever!

I Love Knitting!!

Surgery went well and I am on my way to recovery. In fact I couldn't wait any longer to start that really exciting project I mentioned before. So here it is!!


(Just ignore the ugly mark on my finger, yes my finger is a little swollen and greenish)

Isn't it LOVELY!!! I could barely sleep at night with this yarn sitting on the bookshelf singing sweet seductive songs to me about how lovely and soft it was. And I don't even want to mention what that pattern has been whispering to me as I sat next to it on my desk (I blush at the memory of it).

Anyway, the flaming, colored yarn is a fingering weight that I hand painted two weeks ago and promptly named "Desert Sunset" (appropriate don't you think?). The black is that sinfully delicious "Gloss" (70 % merino 30% silk) from KnitPicks (I love that yarn!!!). And the sweet-talking pattern is one of the only two socks I haven't made, at least once, out of "Socks--A Spin-Off special publication for knitters and spinners" from Interweave Press. That book has special significance and meaning for me because it was my very first sock book and it is what got me addicted to sock making. I don't even know if it is still in print, but if it is pick one up. It still has the best sock patterns ever--well next to any book put out by Nancy Bush (I looooovvvveeee her sock pattern books. Her book "Folk Socks" was purchased the minute I saw it for the first time).

The shawl is almost finished! I have only about 50 more rows and it will be ready to send off.

(It is taller than my son, so the whole thing didn't fit in the picture.) I love this pattern! It is so easy and looks so good. The nurses at the Surgical Center were "ooooing" and "ahhhhing" all over it (yes I was working on it while I waited for surgery to start). When it is all done, and ready to send, I will take one final picture of it wrapped around my daughter--I will probably have it for the next post.

Well, I am off to see if I can do some spinning. I need to get that yarn done still.

Happy Knitting!!

The Trip, The Shawl, The Socks

Well, we had to come back sometime I guess. On the way over to Wyoming we stopped at the Utah Natural History Museum. The only thing that I like almost as much as knitting is rocks, fossils, and Native American culture--especially ancient American culture!
It was a great museum!!! I could have stayed all day of course. Here I am next to a replica of a very cool petroglyph that was in the Native American exhibit area.

Here is the fossilized skull of a Saber-toothed tiger. WOW! I can't imagine what it would be like to find something as amazing as this!! I did the "Wild Happy Dance" when we found an ammonite (a small spiral-shelled animal from the Cretaceous Period) here a few years ago. I might need to go to the hospital to be resuscitated if I found something like this!!!
I want a wall like this in my house! It is covered from ceiling to floor with Green River Formation rock slabs that feature the carbon imprints of bugs and plants that were alive during that time.
The main entrance to the museum has this lovely dinosaur skeleton. I made the kids stand in there for scale.

This is the shawl that I decided upon to make and the yarn for it. The yarn is "Main Line" in Ivory from KnitPicks. The pattern calls for size 9 needles but the guage was off so I went up to a size 10 and it came out perfect. I also added a pattern repeat to make the shawl a little wider.
This is in the motel room. I was having the time of my life!!! The kids were watching cartoons, the husband was at coffee with his dad and I had nothing to do or think about except knitting!!!


I am about half way through the shawl so I didn't finish it over the weekend like I had wanted to but half done isn't so bad. I LOVE the pattern!!! I found it in one of the Vogue Knitting On The Go books titled "Shawls". The pattern is called "Vine-Stitch Wrap". I LOVE IT!!!! I hate when I make something I love this much--I want to keep it for me!! Oh well, my mother-in-law will love it too.

And finally, here are the socks! They are made from KnitPicks Bare Superwash fingering weight yarn (which is sinfully soft!) on size 2 needles. The pattern is called "Monkey". I loved the pattern. It is easy to memorize and the socks worked up so fast!!!!So how was your weekend?

Happy Knitting! (Surgery is Friday :( and I am not excited in fact I think I am getting cold feet...better make a new pair of socks for ME!)

Another Day In the Life of...

I really have nothing exciting to write about today (thank goodness). I really have had quite enough excitement going on with hernia surgery, keeping up with child 1 and child 2 as they seek more and more interesting summer adventures, and getting ready for my surgery next week. I am currently experimenting to see just how much knitting I can get in before my surgery and trying to see if I can come up with some creative way to knit after (while the hand is immobilized). I have knitted 3 pairs of socks (one lace pair, one tiny pair, and one with skull and crossbones on it),

















and started a lace shawl (that I fully intend to have finished this weekend just to see if I can do it). (I will post pictures of the lace socks and shawl when I unload my camera after the trip.)



We are going out of town for the weekend which means LOTS of knitting time--uninterupted--in the car and motel room. I think all knitters should have permanent room service--just think! no laundry, no cooking, no cleaning, no nagging significant other complaining that all you are doing is knitting--what a life!!



Well, I really should get going before someone notices that I am not packing, not to mention I have a really exciting project I want to get to before my surgery and that means the shawl has to be done!

Happy Knitting!!

As If I didn't Already Have Enough Going On

HoneyBunny notified me last Monday that he was experiencing a pain in his abdomen that was severe enough that he was prepared to go to the Emergency Room at the hospital. He has a hernia and will be having surgery on Friday! OH BOY! Do you ever feel picked on? I am feeling a little picked on. Last night I called my best friend to see how her new house was coming along (she gutted the house and has been remodeling it by herself for a month now) and she said she would have to call me back because she was at the "After Hours Clinic" with a broken arm. A drill had fallen off a ladder and landed on her arm.

So, I'm thinking it probably isn't safe to be associated with me right now. I guess since I have this little abomination on my finger, giving me grief, everyone has decided that they would show me that things could be worse?

Where's my knitting? Quick!! Quick!! I need my knitting!

Fiber Adventures

A friend of mine and I went to the Fiber Festival in Estes Park on Saturday. We had a great time. I found some yarn (yes, more tofutsies!) and some beautiful bombyx silk fiber.

I could have purchased a ton of stuff, but there was just so much to see and so many beautiful fibers and yarns that I was overwhelmed! The silk is going to get blended with some satin angora from one of my bunnies. It will no doubtedly be the most luxurious yarn on the face of the planet! I will definitely keep it all for myself (as selfish as that sounds--sorry). I took a picture of an adorable little alpaca family. Knew you all would enjoy it!

Aren't they cute!!

Happy Knitting!

Good News---Bad News

I went to the doctor yesterday about the lump on my finger. The good news is it wasn't caused by knitting or spinning! Yeah!!! The bad news is it is a tumor and I have to have surgery on the 13th of July to have it removed. And worse than that, I will be in a cast (to immobilize my finger and hand) for a week and a half. Booooooo!!!! So that is that. I will have to come up with the latest Vogue Knitting Magazine so that I have something (knitting) to do while my hand gets well. I've heard that the summer issue of VK is fantastic.

In the Picture I have circled the area where the lump is and drawn an arrow to its location (right index finger). If you look close you can see the difference it makes in the shape of my finger as compared to the left finger in that area.

Oh, poor, poor me. I have to get busy now. I have three pairs of socks to finish and 3,500 yards of yarn to get spun up before the 13th.

Happy Knitting!!

Ooops! (That's what I say when I hurt myself)

I've gone and done it now. I have a real life knitting injury due to knitting too much. Can you believe it? I must admit I am in a little bit of denial about the whole thing. I am sure that the lump on my index finger is also caused from typing too much as well as cooking, cleaning, laundry, and maybe a little bit of knitting.

I have to go to the doctor on Thursday to have it examined by a hand specialist to see what exactly needs to be done. I hope whatever he does doesn't include a recovery that bans knitting. The first doctor I went to see actually had the nerve to suggest I take it easy on the knitting for a while. WHAT!? exactly does that mean? I am sure he just meant that I should only knit during the day and not at night or something. At one point a cortizone shot was mentioned as treatment, at which point I lost all sense of time and space. I had a flash back of the last cortizone shot I had in my hand (I would rather have a baby, in labor for hours, with no drugs to help). There has to be a better way to fix this little abomination that is ruining my knitting time.

When I came home from the initial doctors appointment my husband said, "It's from knitting too much isn't it!?" I lied and said, "Well, the doctor wasn't sure. It could be possible that it is from knitting, but he wasn't convinced that knitting was the only culprit. He thought house work could be just as guilty of creating the lump in my finger." I don't think HoneyBunny was convinced I was telling the whole truth. I can't believe he didn't believe me.

So, I'll have to let you know how it all goes. I am just a little nervous, only because the cortizone shot thing was mentioned (it would probably hurt less if they just chopped my index finger off at the knuckle without the use of drugs).

On a happier note, and way funnier note, I was reading the Yarn Harlot's blog and came across a very funny post that I think everyone should read. Not only did I about die laughing (which is not a good thing to have happen at work while it's busy), but now I want to make a whole mess of the little sweaters as well. (Lettuce Knit does have a web page for those of you who get sucked in by the little sweater obsession also.) WARNING: If you are not strong enough to resist impulse buying of yarn or knit kits do not read the post or visit Lettuce Knit. Good Stuff!!

Happy Knitting!!

Huge Announcement!!

I can't believe it! After years of dreaming and working for other people I am going to be opening my own yarn, fiber, and spinning store!!!!!!!! I am so excited. It is going to be a few months while I get the paperwork done and set up but I plan to open by mid-September. I have so many ideas and plans running through my head that I can't sleep at night. It's going to be great! I will post pictures and information here as the whole project progresses.

In other news, I have received my sock yarn orders and let me just say WOW! The new "Tofutsie" is wonderful. If you have not tried it yet I recommend it. I hope they come out with some solid colors at some point so that those "boring sock lovers" that live in my house can have a pair from this new yarn. I will be carrying Southwest Trading Co. yarn in the store for sure!

Also, the summer issue of Interweave Press Knits is wonderful. They have had several very good issues in a row this year. I love the changes they have made to the magazine. With Eunny Jang taking over I am anxious to see what changes she will bring. I know the people at Interweave are all excited to see what she has in store for the magazine. If you have not checked out an issue of Interweave Press Knits for a while now is an excellent time to take another look at it.

Happy Knitting!!!!

You know you have knit too many socks when...

1. Every member of your family wears hand knit socks. (Made by you of course)
2. The immediate family has only hand knit socks in their drawers.
3. All of your friends wear hand knit socks and expect you to give them more on their special days (b-day, Christmas or other December celebrations--Solstice etc, mother's day, their anniversary, etc.)
4. Your children's teachers have at least one pair of your hand knit socks.
5. Your pet's veterinarian has at least one pair of your hand knit socks.
6. Various aquaintances, such as the postman, bus driver, cashier at the grocery store, etc, all have at least one pair of your hand knit socks.
7. People you knew when you lived in another state 10 years ago still call and order more hand knit socks.
8. People you work with have at least one pair of your hand knit socks.
9. When trying to decide what to give someone who has everything you always end up giving them a pair of your hand knit socks.

Yes! I have made literally hundreds of pairs of socks in the last 13 years. I honestly quit counting when I got to 150 pairs. I have knit everything from the dull and mundane to a pair of turkish socks that used 12 different colors. I give them away or sell them.

I alway warn anyone that expresses an interest in the socks I have on, "once you wear a pair of hand knit socks you will want more and eventually only own hand knit socks"!!!!

I can't wait! I have enough sock yarn on order right now to make 25 new pairs! It should be here this week. Heaven knows I need to make a few more pair!

Happy knitting!!ALWAYS!!!

May book review and stashes!

(Haneke's lovely boucle in Midnight)

When I cannot knit (like when I am at work), or while I am knitting I love to read about knitting. I am not very particular either. It can be anything from a pattern book to a novel about knitting to just pictures of knitting. So lately I have been reading Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's book Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Casts Off The Yarn Harlot's Guide to the Land of Knitting. It is very good! I am just about finished. I would definitely recommend it for anyone who knits--new or old. The section that discusses the geography of The Land of Knitting (aka Stashes) is so funny!!!! I couldn't resist reading it to my hubby. Of course all he did is roll his eyes and point at me when she was discussing "mature stashes" and their "stashlets" as if this was a problem in our house and our lives. Can you imagine that? ME? An over-run stash problem? I quickly pointed out that not one time has he put on a coat or long sleeved shirt and found yarn stored in the sleeves. Then he had the nerve to point at the shelving system that covers two walls (that are full of clear plastic boxes containing lovely yarn) and remind me that one of our two storage sheds (the 10 feet by 10 feet one) is more than half full of yarn and fiber. Then he actually said that he'd better not ever find yarn stored in his sleeves or I was in trouble. Well, he never looks in the cupboards or drawers in the kitchen so I don't need sleeves for storage at this point.

I love my yarn stash! It makes me feel so good to just sit in my chair knitting and look at all the pretty yarn and day dream about all the wonderful projects I could make with it. Some day I am going to open a yarn store (in a building other than my house) just so I can be surrounded by an enormous stash everyday.

So, how big is your stash? Are you proud of it or are you still in the denial stage?

Happy knitting!

I have come to the unfortunate, yet inevitable, conclusion that I really only like to do two things in life.

The first is, OF COURSE, anything that has to do with yarn. Making yarn, selling yarn, knitting yarn, crocheting yarn, buying yarn, shopping for yarn, petting yarn, thinking about yarn. (Does that count as ONE thing?)

The second is being outside. I don't care if it's rainy, cold, hot, sunny, cloudy, snowing. The only time I do not like to be outside is when the wind is blowing. In fact, if we have a day where the wind blows fairly hard for the entire day I find myself feeling irritable even if I haven't had to be outside in the wind.

So, you can imagine that my perfect life would involve living outside (camping), and knitting or spinning every day. Does anyone know of a job out there that would pay me to do this? I promise that I would be VERY good at it. I would be willing to work overtime at no extra charge everyday. Weekends? Not a problem! In fact you could depend on me to cover anyones shift if they needed the day off, I would work holidays and everything. For some reason my local job classifieds and work force centers do not have any listings for "Nature-loving, yarn lunitics". I have even gone to the trouble to search some of the on-line job listers and they don't have anything either. Can you believe it? I guess I will have to give up on getting paid to do what I like. (sigh)

This all came forth last week as I lay on my bed (under a gorgeous hand-knit afghan I made for my husband) crying because I was depressed and terribly unhappy with all of life. (what was really wrong was that I hadn't been outside or done any knitting for like two weeks). Once I received the epiphany as to what was wrong I imediately picked up the nearest project (there is ALWAYS something within arms reach of where ever I am no matter what) and started knitting. I honestly knitted for 3 days only stopping to eat and sleep. When my husband asked if I'd like to go with him to town (I think he was hoping I might be sick of knitting and need a break) I said yes and continued to knit while we shopped. I can't tell you how much better I felt by the time Sunday evening hit. I knit so much that I have actually made it through the week without getting depressed one time.

Unfortunately, I don't think I will get away with this every weekend. Someone will have to clean the house and do the dishes and laundry at some point. My daughter is beginning to insist I call her Cinderella. I don't know why. Maybe she should take up knitting.

I have nothing real exciting to say today. I finished my pants and a pair of sock, then spun a whole bag of that nasty scratchy stuff I mentioned in a previous post and now I am just tired. It has to be the weather. This is the first Fat Tire Festival weekend that it hasn't rained in I don't know how many years, at least 6 years that I am sure of. Instead it has been in the 80's!!! It isn't supposed to get into the 80 degree range until late May. It is TOO HOT!!!! I like cool weather, it allows for knitting. When it gets hot and the cooler isn't hooked up yet it is too difficult to think about wool socks, wool sweaters, etc. for me anyway.

It's time to break out the silk, hemp, cotton, linen!!! It's time to knit and crochet bikini's, lacey shawls, tiny t-shirts, etc. YEA!!!! A whole new set of fun! By the way for those of you who are fans of the "White Lies" lingerie there will be a book out in June full of her designs. I already pre-ordered my copy.

Happy Knitting

THE PANTS ARE COMPLETE!!!


LOOK! LOOK! LOOK!, My pants are done. Aren't they wonderful? Aren't they great? Yes, yes they are soft, warm, comfy, and amazing all in one. I feel to use the words of Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, "Knitting is a magic trick.... Look! Look at this! It's yarn! This...is what I have now...nothing like yarn! You can't wear YARN!" From her newest book Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Casts Off--The Yarn Harlot's Guide to the Land of Knitting page 17. I love knitting. It is magic! And now I have some wonderful lounge wear to knit in.


This is not a complicated pattern and I would recommend it for any knitter that is looking for something beyond scarves but not as complicated as a sweater.

Well, I am off to go curl up with a new project and knit (make some magic). Isn't knitting wonderful?

Happy knitting!

YEAH! IT'S FRIDAY

I am so glad it's Friday. I don't know why though. It's not like I work and have the weekend off or have any special plans. It must be because I know that none of us have to get up and get ready to go anywhere tomorrow. No school, no lunches to make, no kids to run hither and yon, no alarm clocks going off. Everyone will sleep in and then spend a lazy morning watching cartoons (Hubby is a faithful "Jane and the Dragon" watcher--I know, kind of weird). Sometime around 9 or 10 I will make something yummy for breakfast/brunch and then we will slowly begin to shower, dress, etc. Yes, that is why I am glad it is Friday--I love Saturday. And Sunday is even better. No house cleaning, no laundry, no shopping, just relaxation. AHHHHH.... I love the weekends.

No, I don't have the pants finished yet. However, they are close enough that they will be finished before the weekend is over. There will be a picture posted I promise.

If you get the chance, check out Stacey's socks for April on http://samkal3.blogspot.com. Most of the comments have been "WOW!" Few commenters have been able to find adequate words to describe their feelings about these socks. They are really something!!!! I feel so inspired by them, yet I promised myself NO NEW PROJECTS!!! until I had a few current ones finished. After all, just the pants project is taking up a lot of space on my desk (this is where all of my immediate projects sit so that I can't ignore them). I certainly don't have any extra room right now for another project. I am not joking. There is a half-finished sweater on my printer, two pairs of socks, a capelet, and another 1/2 to 3/4 finished sweater sitting to my right, along with various pattern books, bills that need to be paid, my book I read while I knit, several tape measures, calculators, misc. books.......bet you wonder if I can even see the top of my desk.

Anyway, I will post the picture of the pants next time and try to get in a new pattern for the month. So check it out next week!!!

Until then....
Happy knitting!

Monthly Book/Magazine Reviews

I just picked up the Spring 2007 copy of Interweave Knits and WOW what a great spring issue. Spring and summer issues of knitting magazines are a gamble. Sometimes they are great and sometimes they are so-so. Whereas the Fall and Winter issues (especially any holiday issues) are pretty consistantly great.

Anyway, there are a nice, fun, exciting variety of patterns from socks to skirts and pillows to purses. Not to mention some great summer "sweaters". I especially LOVED the Entrelac Socks by Eunny Jang. I am a sock knitter first and formost and have made several pairs of entrelac socks in my illustrious career but none of them were as exciting as this pair from Eunny! You know I will be making them as soon as I find some suitable yarn from the stash. Or maybe, I should order some special just for this project and leave the stash alone. Yeah! that sounds like even more fun. After all new yarns, fresh from my favorite stores are always more exciting and the stash usually doesn't like to be bothered with a bunch of my rummaging around. I wonder what fun yarn KnitPicks has that would work? OH! I have some Gloss that I recently ordered from KnitPicks that would be perfect! I am sure the stash wouldn't mind. After all the Gloss hasn't quite made it into a permanent Stash container yet so it's not officially part of the stash yet. For those of you who aren't familiar with Gloss it is a fingering weight yarn that is fairly new to the KnitPicks line. It's fiber content is 70% merino and 30% silk (one of my favorite fiber combinations). I had originally purchased the yarn for some socks for my husband, but since he doesn't know I purchased it he will never know the difference.

With that decided, the next exciting thing that I discovered in this issue was an article on Joan McGowan-Michael. If you are not familiar with this name how about her designs? She is the designer of the White Lies lingerie and other extremely beautiful knitted items. I consider the woman to be an absolute genius designer. She can design things to knit that most people wouldn't be able to create with fabric. I look at her work and think WOW!!! WOW!!! who knew you could knit that!!! Anyway, the most exciting part of the article was the announcement that she has a book of patterns coming out THIS SPRING!!! The title is Knitting Lingerie Style (Stewart, Tabori & Chang) and I can't wait. I've already began haunting the stores looking for it. There will definately be a critique posted here when I get it.

My No-Sweat Pants are 3/4 of the way done. What a fun, but basic project they have been. I will post a picture of me wearing them when I finish. So watch for that in my next post. Until then...........

HAPPY KNITTING!

SOME FIBER SHOULD NOT BE SPUN

I have been working on spinning some yarn for a customer that should never be made into anything wearable. She has a "pet" sheep (I am sure she has told me the beloved animals name several times but I just can't remember it--I call it Steel Wool or Chore Boy and several other names) that produces the scratchiest fiber I have ever spun, touched, etc. She has had this pet's fleece processed by our local fiber mill and then she brings the bags (and bags and bags and bags) to me to spin into various types and colors of yarn. Now, not exaggerating, this fiber is so scratchy that my hands are completely exfolliated each time I spin a bobbin of yarn from it. If I sit down and spin up most of a bag in one sitting I can expect my hands to be a little raw in several places.

So what is she doing with the more than 5,000 (+ or - a few) yards of this awful yarn you ask. Well, she has brought by a finished men's cardigan, a vest, and several woven scarves. All of these items are EXTREMELY beautiful, the workmanship is exquisite and perfect, BUT definately things you would wear next to your skin. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if it was scratchy even with a heavy T-shirt underneath. I have to admit though that the items are very, very nice. I still don't think that fiber of that quality should be spun. It would be perfect for carpet though.

All fiber does have a purpose, just not all of it is worthy of clothing.

Happy Knitting!!

Well I finished Spring Break and all of my mid-term exams finally. I don't know how everyone else's Spring Break was, but I have a few complaints about mine.

First of all, it came two weeks early this year. How could this be a problem you ask? Well, now I have two months of school to finish out with NO BREAKS!! Trust me, two month straight of college classes is NOT my idea of fun.

The other complaint I have about Spring Break this year is that I wasted most of it trying to recover from my first bee sting (ever in my life). Yes, I discovered that I experience an allergic reaction when I am stung. NOT FUN. I thought I would die, for reals!, before the doctors decided to treat me for an allergic reaction instead of an infection. I was so sick!! Bees and I have always gotten along, now....well they just better keep their distance is all I have to say. The doctors told me that I need to be careful from now on because the next time (like I will allow a "next" time) my reaction could be a lot worse.

All the fun I could handle. I hope yours was better.

So, now for the good stuff!!!

I finally found a pattern I have been looking for. It is for a pair of knitted pants. They are similar to sweat pants in that they have a draw-string waist but that is where the similarity ends. They are designed to be low-rise (or if you are of my generation--hip huggers). I am very anxious to get started on them. So anxious that my other six projects will just have to wait. Whenever I do that (set aside projects) I think of the section in Stephanie Pearl-Mcfee's book "Yarn Harlot" that is the letter to her from one of her projects entitled "The Cardigan Letter". (If you have not read this book I recommend rushing right out and obtaining a copy.) Anyway, Stephanie talks about a letter she receives from a very unhappy cardigan that feels very neglected and severly accuses her of being a "Tramping, Harloting Trollop" because she is working on all of these other projects and keeps neglecting the cardigan. Anyway, like I said you have to read it. I still get the giggles when I think about that book.

So back to the pants. I found the pattern in an old issue of Interweave Knits. The Spring 2004 edition. There are several GREAT projects in this issue. The pattern is called "No-Sweat Pants". If you are interested in the pattern you can go to Interweave Press's website (LINK AT THE LEFT) or contact me and I will see what I can do.

I need to get this cast on so I gotta go for now.

Happy Knitting!! You know I am!

Starting this month I will post a "Pattern of the Month". These are all original designs and you are welcome to use them. However, if you start making a lot of money off of what you make with them I want a percentage!!!! Have fun with the patterns and look for a new one each month.

This months pattern is what I titled "The Ultimate Sock Pattern". With this pattern you can make any sock using yarns from sock weight to worsted weight. I made this pattern up when I was teaching sock classes for a local yarn shop. What is so great is that all you have to do is add in your own patterns or colors and follow the instructions. I love to use this pattern for making the socks from the yarn that makes its own designs as you knit such as the Knit Picks yarns "Simple Stripes", "Dancing", or "Parade". (See the links section on this page for a link to the Knit Picks web site).

So, what are you waiting for...get knitting!

THE ULTIMATE BASIC SOCK PATTERN

Size: Average adult

Materials: Two skeins of sock weight, (sport weight, or worsted weight) yarn. If working a heel you will need a small amount of contrasting waste yarn.

Needles: One set of 5 dpn in size 2 (size 4, size 6) and a tapestry needle

Guage: 16 sts = 2 inches, (12 sts = 2 inches, 10 sts = 2 inches).

***Note: the changes for using larger dpn and heavier yarn are in parenthesis.***

Leg: CO 64 (56, 48) sts. Divide evenly onto 4 needles and join into the round. Work 2 inches of 1x1 rib. Change to stockinette stitch (st st) and work leg until it measures 8 inches from the cast on edge.

**Work heel if desired. Not working the heel simply results in a tube sock.**

Heel: Using the contrasting waste yarn, knit across next 32 (28, 24) sts. Using main yarn again, knit across remaining sts.

Foot: Continue working in the round with the main yarn until 2 1/2 inches from the desired finished length (measure from the center of the ankle-bone to the tip of the longest toe and subtract 2 1/2 inches from that measurement).

Shape toe: Round 1: needle 1--knit 1, ssk, knit across remaining sts and across all sts on needle 2 to last 3 sts. K2tog, k 1. Needle 3--Knit 1, ssk, knit across remaining sts and all of sts on needle 4 to last 3 sts. K2tog, k 1.

Round 2: Knit all sts even.

Work these two rounds until 24 (20, 16) sts remain. Place sts from needles 1 and 2 onto one needle and sts from needles 3 and 4 onto another needle. Graft toe sts together. If working the heel, continue with the next step. Otherwise, finish by weaving in all loose ends.

Heel finishing: Carefully remove waste yarn and place all "live" sts onto 4 needles (make sure sides of heel and sides of the toe on your sock match or the sock will be twisted). Working in rounds and st st work 4 (2, 1) round(s) even. Heel shaping is worked the same as the toe shaping. Work these two rounds until 28 (24, 20) sts remain. Place sts on needles the same as for toe shaping and graft sts together. Finish by weaving in loose ends.

HAPPY KNITTING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SEE!!!!! THERE ARE JUST SOME THINGS THAT ONLY A GOOD YARN CAN SOLVE!!! I FIGURED OUT THE PICTURE THING AGAIN. A little more complicated now, but.... as long as it works!

Knitting is the answer to all of lifes problems, I am convinced.

HAPPY KNITTING!!!

I just noticed something very funny. Somehow my age on my profile says that I am 250 years old. WOW! I am not too bad for being two and a half centuries old. I think that makes me the oldest person alive, hands down. Now I know that knitting and spinning yarn sounds like a grandma or great-grandma type thing, but I am not even close. I think I have it fixed now. I'll have to check it again later.

I am currently attempting to figure out why I can't post pictures on here again. How hard can it be? It seems that every time I get it figured out, something changes and I have to start over again. I will post more later.

Remember my comment about making some socks with a certain percentage of angora fiber in the yarn? Well, I made two pair. Unfortunately, I didn't get to keep either pair and the yarn that I had spun up to make another pair sold before I could even finish spinning it. However, my husband (who stole the first pair I made) thinks that the angora blend socks are by far the NICEST pair of socks he has ever put a foot in. "Not only are they extremely soft, but they are extremely warm even when it is very cold outside," I believe were his exact words. He has put in a personal request for several more pairs before next winter by telling me things like, "If you really loved me you would have enough made for me next year so that I would have a pair to wear everyday." Then he thought he would sweeten the deal with, "If I had a pair for each day of the week you wouldn't need to wash laundry everyday...just think of how much time that would save you." He's always so thoughtful.

So the socks are definitely nicer than just wool, as I hypothesized would be the case. I plan to do several more experiments in the future since Colorado can't seem to get out of the deep freeze yet.

Happy knitting!!

Well, classes will be starting soon. I have managed to make two sweaters, four pairs of socks, and two wash cloths since classes ended in December. It has been so much fun not going to school. I think that is the hardest part of returning to college when you are more than double the age of the rest of the students. You've been out of school so long and had your own time to do your own thing (that is if you have been fortunate enough to be home or work from home) that having to adhere to a school schedule and atmosphere is very difficult!!! I like to play mommy and knitting addict. Unfortunately, I haven't got the housework type stuff done that I had planned on accomplishing over the break. Well, it takes time to make a sweater you know!!

In addition to knitting I have been spending way too much time arranging and putting the years pictures onto discs. It has been a fairly large project since there were upwards of 500 or more pictures and videos. But I think I see the end of the tunnel finally. It has been fun to go through the images and remember all the fun stuff we did over the summer!!! We had a great time with all the fishing (or in my case--knitting), 4-wheeling, swimming (or in my case--knitting), hiking, mushroom hunting, etc., etc., etc. I am really looking forward to May no doubt about it!!!! No school and all the free time I can handle for three months!!!!!

My husband said a very funny thing to me yesterday morning. He asked me if it was my mission in life to leave behind as many knitted items as possible before I die. (How did he know?!) I must admitt I have made a large number of knitted items in the past 15 years since we got married. I lost count of the number of sock pairs I have knitted at 350. After that many who cares anymore how many you have made! What a thought though! In a small way I am immortallizing myself by creating all this.

Ok, for those of you who are interested I will be selling some of The Twisted Hare's yarn on E-bay starting next week. The yarn is very high quality and comes with a satifaction guarantee. I have knit many items with these yarns and they are fantastic!!!!! So, check it out. It will be under the yarn search area and will be sold by tama529.

Happy Knitting!!!!

With Christmas and Fall semester out of the way I guess I will write a little something. It seems that since the last time I wrote that life has been out of control and so hectic. With homework, getting through the holiday's and then finals there has been no time for anything else (well except for knitting of course!!!!). I hope that everyone has had a nice holiday season.

We went ice-fishing for the first time in a couple of years last weekend. It was nice.
Nice and cold! We got up there a little late in the day. Notice my handspun, handknit hat and neck warmer. Invaluable ice-fishing accessories!!!!

We did catch a fish though. As my husband says, "At least I didn't get skunked!"

I have discovered in my many years of knitting and wearing handknits that you just can't beat them. Yes, you can buy knit hats, sweaters, mittens, socks, etc. from the store made from wool, alpaca, silk, angora, etc. but they are NEVER as warm, comfortable, or nice as my handknits. I made a wonderful pair of glittens (mittens that have a top portion that can be folded back to reveal a fingerless glove underneath) several years ago from some handspun english angora yarn. These marvels are windproof and water resistant. A warmer item to wear on your hands does not exist! No wonder angora rabbits can withstand temperatures of 5 below zero as long as their ears are protected. You know, I think that more of these mountaineers that go exploring glaciers etc. in freezing temperatures should find themselves outfitted with angora long john underwear, angora mitten, angora hats, etc. NOT the whimpy store-bought stuff either!! I'm talking the ultra-fine, ultra-dense, ultra-warm handspun english or german angora items. I keep threatening to make a pair of socks, for myself of course, out of some of my bunny fiber and just give them a test drive like ice-fishing or some other winter sport that requires you to just sit for hours in the snow and ice with a light, crisp, winter breeze blowing across a completely unprotected surface (like a frozen lake). Like this one!

I think I will conduct my own research project on this subject and publish the results right here on my blog. What do you think? Sounds like a fun thing to do until I go back to class in January. I will let you know the results.

Until then Happy Knitting!!!!

The Twisted Hare!