Thursday, June 30, 2005

"I expected the Rocky Mountains to be a little rockier than this."

Completed my experiment yesterday and I like the results. It's kind of a wrist/warmer, cuff combo made with Fisherman's Wool that I dyed with Kool-Aid and then felted. I knit eyelets in the cuff and then strung a cotton cord with some beads on it. I didn't create a button-hole as I thought that it would be too hard to gauge where to put it before felting it, so I sewed on a snap and covered the sewing for the snap over with a decorative button. I think it'll look cute peeking out from the cuff of a jean jacket. I also finished my Glampyre One Skein Wonder. I knit it with Brown Sheep Handpaint in the colorway Tropical Water. I really like how it turned out. It is nice and warm as well for the summer evenings when you don't need a long sleeved sweater. I had to go up two needle sizes to get gauge, but I don't think the yarn looks lacy at all. The Handpaint is 70% mohair which probably explains it. The dye really came off all over my bamboo needles, so I need to wipe them down. My fingers were pretty blue and green as well. I hope everyone has a nice weekend planned. I have barbecues and sitting out on my porch with my knitting and a glass of wine planned. Ahhh, summer!

My One Skein Wonder is done! Posted by Hello

I love the button. Posted by Hello

Here she is... the experiment. Posted by Hello

Tuesday, June 28, 2005

"Adventures do occur, but not punctually"

I've been meaning to post pics of my recent swap and the gift from my secret pal so.. just a quick post to show off some lovely yarn I got in a swap with Wyldeyez from the Knittyboard and the lovely little gift I got from my Secret Pal. The yarn is a cotton DK weight yarn. She sent me seven skeins of it! I love the color, red and orange. I sent her some Paton's Bohemian I just wasn't' going to use, some fun fur, and a skein of Berrocco Monet. She also swapped me a couple of nordic knit pattern books and the book The Sweater Workshop. I really looking forward to delving into the book. I'd like to design my own sweaters someday. My secret pal struck again with box of See's candy, YUM!! She also sent me Cat Bordhi's sock book about how to knit socks using two circs instead of DPNs. This will help me immensely, and DPNs aren't my favorite things to use. I love the gift SP!!!! I'm also working on a secret experiment involving Kool-Aid, Fisherman's wool, ribbon, and a button. I'll post more when I got more details. A hint... I'm still working on combining my love of jewelry with my love of knitting. ;) Speaking about jewelry, I'm going to start selling some of my creations on ebay. I'll post about some of my stuff on this blog. Let me know if you or anyone you know may be interested in anything I make. I'm open to selling custom pieces, or other creations before putting them on ebay!

What a wonderful Secret Pal I have!!! Posted by Hello

The pic doesn't do this yarn justice. It is such a lovely shade of red and orange.  Posted by Hello

Sunday, June 26, 2005

Tired, so very tired...

I am bone tired. Close friends of ours got married yesterday. DH was the best man and was tied up most of the weekend with wedding commitments, and I had my hands full with the kidlets. The wedding itself was beautiful and fun, but because of the schedule, DH and I took separate cars. The wedding was about 1 1/2 hours from where we live, so the driving was brutal for us both, plus it was an evening wedding. We're absolutely sleepwalking. Altogether, not a good day to take a class, but I did. I took a refresher course in basic wirework. I wanted to brush up on my skills for the stitch marker making I've been doing. I totally enjoyed myself through the exhaustion. In two hours we made a bracelet made of links that we created, and a pair of earrings. I'm so happy I took it and I think it will help me expand my jewelry making options.

The bracelet I made in class. Posted by Hello

A closer view of the loops. Posted by Hello

Some earrings. I like making the loops at the bottom. Posted by Hello

Tuesday, June 21, 2005

Mama's Got a Brand New Bag!

Just a quick post about my first felting experience. I felted the French Market bag yesterday and am so pleased with the results! Lamb's Pride felts beautifully! The bag only went through one wash cycle to get the kind of look I wanted. I used the 1/2 load setting on hot, heavy agitation. I also threw an old pair of jeans in which helped a lot. I will be using Lamb's Pride to felt again! I definitely will get a lot of use out of this bag as it is perfect as a knitting bag and/or a picnic bag for the kidlets and I. Here are the "stats." I used Lamb's Pride single stranded in MC Limeade and CC Jaded Dreams. I used a Clover Bamboo size 9, 24" circ. I think the whole project took me 2 1/2 weeks.

Post felting! Posted by Hello

Prefelting! Posted by Hello

Monday, June 20, 2005

"I'm smitten. I'm in deep smit."

Today is DH and my 7th anniversary. We already celebrated it over the weekend with dinner out sans kidlets. It was nice to get away and have some adult coversation. It's been a wonderful 7 years and I'm looking forward to many more anniversaries. Sometimes our anniversary gets lost within the celebratory miasma that is May/June. Our entire family it seems has anniversaries, weddings, and birthdays in these two months. We also have Mother's Day and Father's day in there. Our crazy months will be officially over when we attend a wedding this coming Saturday. DH is the best man. I get to offically just be a guest. I've got more work to do in the next two weddings I go to this year. Speaking about weddings, my SIL loves the bridal bracelets I designed/made for her wedding, so I'm happy. On the knitting front, I finished knitting the French Market Bag and will be feltiing today. I'll post pics later. I wound up the Koigu for my Charlotte's Web shawl that I'm making for the Summer of Lace KAL and for my next Knit the Classics project. I bought Wives and Daughters, the next Knit the Classics book, and I've got to say... we need to pick some shorter books if we want a ghost of a chance of finishing a book a month. I also joined another swap, the Stitch Marker Swap! Being as this is the Garden of yarn AND beads, I just needed to join. I'll be posting a button soon, but if anyone is interested, go check out this link. Quote title is care of "So I Married an Axe Murderer." I love Mike Myers! Has anyone recognized the movie quotes from last weeks posts?

MMMMmmmmm... Koigu.... I wound the skeins into balls so I can get started on Charlotte's Web. Posted by Hello

The seeds DS and I planted are starting to grow. We'll have flowers in no time! Posted by Hello

Thursday, June 16, 2005

"You are what you love, not what loves you."

Now if that is true, then I would be about my family and friends, yarn, beads, books, the color purple, purses, shoes, and Cheddar Cheese flavored Ruffles. I've indulged a few of these loves with some money I came into for my birthday. I love everything I got, but am especially intrigued with the bead spinner. The way it works is you put beads into the bowl, string a special needle with your thread and then spin the bowl while holding the needle in the bowl. The beads "jump" onto the needle and thus cuts down on stringing time. Pretty neat, huh? I got it from the friendly folks at Earthfaire. If you are interested in knitting with beads, those are the folks to go to! About my "next project" dilemma... well... ahem, I've decided to start three projects. I also ordered some Jo Sharp yarn for the Cold Shoulder sweater. Thanks Amylovie for the heads up on the Herschnerr's sale! So, I already cast on for a children's neckdown pullover for my son, and have plans to wind some skeins for a one-skein wonder and Charlotte's web. Yes, I'm crazy. We'll see how it goes!

Some tea from Adagio bought partly with a gift certificate from my SP. Thanks SP!!! Posted by Hello

A bead spinner and a Kromski niddy noddy. Posted by Hello

From the kidlets: backpack knitting bag and spindle bag from Boogie Knits. I love the Asian crane theme. Posted by Hello

Birthday goodies! Mini Bosworth purpleheart spindle, Midi Bosworth Zebrawood spindle, and 4 skeind of Knit Picks Shimmer... OOOooooo Posted by Hello

Wednesday, June 15, 2005

"You know how it is, rockin' and rollin' and what not."

Well, what do you know... another FO! I finished up the chickami for my SIL's bridal shower gift. She will be honeymooning in Jamaica, so hopefully this tank will serve her well during the Caribbean nights. Thank you for all the birthday wishes! I ended up spending a bunch of birthday money that day on various goodies. When they start rolling in I'll post the new loot. I'm off to prepare for a park day with the kidlets, and I'm hard at work searching for my next project. I joined the Summer of Lace KAL and would like to start Charlotte's web... Of course the cold shoulder sweater is intriguing. I could make a sweater for DS... I finally got the yarn for the Acorn tank... What to do!!!

The Chickami for my SIL Posted by Hello

Sunday, June 12, 2005

"This is a quest. It's a quest for fun."

Well, I survived the weekend with just me and the kidlets. Mr. Craftylilly was in Lake Tahoe for a bachelor party, and so it was just me, the short ones, the cats, and a whole lot of hot weather. We had an "ok sort of" time. Many of the things I attempted to do were foiled. I tried to take the kids to a new LYS in Orinda only to find it closed for the weekend. We did go to a cool toy store across the street though. We also tried to go to a birthday party for the kidlet of a friend, but DS was having a hard day, so we left after about 15 minutes. Oh, and like I said before, it was HOT!!! I've also decided to lay off on the potty training for a while. A week of DS crying and being upset when sitting on the pot pretty much says, "Whatcha doing woman! Trying to give the kid a complex?" I figure I'll broach the topic again next month. On the positive front, I got the whole evening last night to bead and made two bracelets, and a choker. The cuff is for me, but the others are for gifts. I enjoyed myself! The French Market bag and the Chickami are going pretty well, and I'm itching to start knitting another lace project... Maybe Charlotte's Web? I also got a lovely gift from my Secret Pal! My pal sent me the Lost Points stole pattern and the yarn to knit it (SWTC Bamboo and Melody). I also got a knitting journal which I want to start writing in right away. My secret pal also lives in the Bay Area which is pretty cool. Maybe we'll even meet one day? What do you think Secret Pal? I'm not too weird in real life... Really I'm not! It's my 31st birthday tomorrow, so I think I'm going to take my kidlets to the Lafayette Reservoir for a walk and try to spend their nap time knitting instead of cleaning. Hubby is bringing home Yan Can takeout for my birthday dinner, so I don't have to cook. Should be nice!

The loot from my wonderful Secret Pal! Posted by Hello

Progress on the French Market bag.  Posted by Hello

When hubby is away, wife will bead. Posted by Hello

Friday, June 10, 2005

"Zed's dead, baby... Zed's dead."

And so are many rock/pop artists from the 80s. Ok, maybe not literally dead, but boy have many of them aged. For that matter, I've aged quite a bit... Anyway, I am embarassed to say that I saw the show "Hit Me Baby One More Time," where they take pop stars from the 80s and early 90s and have them compete for 20K for their charity of choice. So last night they have the Motels, the Knack, Haddaway, and Vanilla Ice. DH and I were riveted. We only caught the last half where they sing bad covers of contemporary songs. We missed the first half were they sing their old hits. We saw enough to really have enjoyable conversation like this: (While watching the Knack) DH - Boy, they've aged. Me - Yeah, they aren't' moving around the stage much. DH - They're really looking old. Me - Do we look old? (While watching Haddaway drag himself on his belly across the stage singing a cover of Britney Spears "Toxic") Me - Ok, he just needs to get up off the floor. DH - That is so not sexy when a middle-aged black guy does that. Me - EWWWW! DH - Dude, that's sad. Me - Well at least he's singing and not lip syncing like Britney. DH - Maybe that's part of the problem. Unfortunately I think we'll be watching the madness next week. I made a note of it: Thursday night at 9 pm on NBC. We're sad... By the way, If you haven't noticed already, I'm bad at thinking of new post titles, so I'm ripping off quotes from movies. As a certified moviephile, I figured it'd be kind of fun. Today's quote is from Pulp Fiction.

Tuesday, June 07, 2005


Pardon the hair and clashing clothing choice. By the way, Wendy of Wendy Knits is hosting a Summer of Lace KAL on Yahoo Groups. Go check it out! Posted by Hello

I Do is finito!!! Posted by Hello

You know, like nunchuck skills, bowhunting skills, computer hacking skills... Girls only want boyfriends who have great skills.

I've got skills... Ok, some but none of them include any mentioned in this post's title. By the way, anyone recognize the quote? If you haven't seen Napoleon Dynamite you really must. It's hilarious and kind of sweet. Back to my "skills," I've been thinking of them recently because I'm trying to find a part-time teaching position at a community college, or as an online instructor. I figure my 6 years teaching the teens of America should qualify me something education wise, that and the single subject teaching credential and graduate degree. Of course my graduate degree is in Theology, not the world's most lucrative degree. To make matters worse I focused on ethics, a somewhat dying discipline. We'll see. My musing about my skills also leads me to a recent realization... I think I'm getting a bit... boring. I had a long conversation with one of my closest friends this past weekend and realized that my side of the discussion was all about the trials and travails of shuttling my kids around, and how best to potty train my ambivalent son. When I think of what I've done today so far the list includes, cleaning up a cat hairball, changing several diapers, cleaning up spit-up off the carpet, dressing kids, dropping son off at pre-school and then picking him up, making meals, emptying the dishwasher... You get the idea. The most exciting thing that has happened lately is that I got out last night to a preschool board meeting, my first. Wow... Maybe I'm in a funk. My I Do is all blocked. When DH gets home, he'll take a pic and I'll post! I'm also working on the French Market Bag for the Knit the Classics group, and finishing up the Chickami for my SIL. I'd take pics of those, but it would just be a pile of shapeless knitting on needles. When I get farther along all show off those.

Thursday, June 02, 2005

Shop smart! Shop S Mart!

Ok, the post title has nothing whatsoever to do with my latest activities, but I've been downloading some screen wallpaper for my computer and came across one for the film Army of Darkness. That movie is hilarious! We even named one of our cats after the main character... Weird, I know. My Kool-Aid dyeing adventure went pretty well. I just test dyed a few very small skeins to get the concept. I like it! I want to do more bigger skeins now! I used Fisherman's Wool and the Kool-Aid flavors Lemon-Lime and Blue Moon Berry. I'm thinking about making a small cellphone case with it and maybe felting it? I'm not sure. I used the microwave method instead of the stove-top and was quite happy with the results. Besides, if I was to use the stove-top, it would have taken too long. My kids' naps are only so long. I also finished I Do, but she is in dire need of blocking. I really like it, and think after blocking it will be quite nice. Plans this weekend include blocking and pics to come soon! We also went to the zoo last weekend with the kidlets which was loads of fun. I just love the meerkat exhibit. A couple of years ago we got to see the new litter of meerkat babies. They were so adorable! My DS made us laugh like crazy at the warthog enclosure. They are very smelly and DS kept complaining about the "poo-poo" smell and asking if they needed a "new diaper."

What's over there? Posted by Hello

A close-up of the lacy lovelyness Posted by Hello

I'm in desperate need of blocking! Posted by Hello
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