I keep forgetting to post over here about the CD Swap 2! I finished my CDs and got them sent out just before my trip. Yesterday was my first chance to get to my PO box since my return and I have 4 of 5 CDs waiting for me. Since talk of music and such is much more on topic in my Culture Catalog blog I’ll be posting over there about the CDs I’ve recieved. I’m the type that music grows on after listening to a CD several times. So, over the next week or so I’ll be posting more detailed reviews of the CDs I recieved. But, I have recievedCDs from flossy-p, Jenni (no blog was given), Becca, and Vanessa.

Keep checking in at the mixed CD category at Culture Catalog. Oh, and if anyone is interested in trading mixed CDs, I’m going to be sending out another set of my mix, “spin.” I’ll probably send them out late next week so if you’re interested let me know!

Hot & Tired!

Same old stuff. . .

I’m *hating* shaped triangle! The &@#*)& stitch markers that are supposed to make lace knitting bearable have to be moved every other row! Grrrrrrr! Add to it that I didn’t heed my own advice and instead listened to the siren call of varigated yarn and varigated yarn that is quite strong in its color changes and I’m more or less hosed. I haven’t decided if I’ll continue with it or not. Regardless, since I’m a host of the Gathering of Lace Along I shall have to choose another project from that book… I have no other lace weight in my stash either. I do have a couple options of about 600 yds of sport weight, but again those are varigated as well… But, I’m open to suggestions from others…

My Flatirons Clog Socks are progressing. I put away the shawl when people started arriving as I didn’t trust myself to visit and remember to move stitch markers properly etc. So I got about hald way through the heel flap on those. Perhaps I’ll get the heel turned and such today. I’d like to have this one off the needles for my trip and cast on for something a bit more dull for the traveling, but I would like to take these Caesin needles as the last time I took bamboo needles home I broke a needle and then couldn’t finish my sock. Perhaps I’ll try Alison’s Anklets!

The house was 83 degrees last night. We got it to a chilly 79 degrees before bed (at midnight). This morning at 5:45 am it was still 76 degrees. It’s already 78 again in the bedroom. I slept a total of three hours, which means I am not only hot and sleep deprived, but I’m also in pain. I’m tired and cranky and crabby and little pissed that DH won’t have the portable AC unit on at night and insists on closing up the windows in the front part of the house so that we don’t get any air flow through the house to push out the hot air. I must focus on the fact that by next Monday night I get to sleep at whatever temperature I like for as many hours as I want in a bed by myself (okay, so my sister’s cat has an uncanny ability to sneak into my bedroom and sleep with me when my sister isn’t home, but mostly I’ll be by myself…)

Now, tomorrow morning the insulation guys is coming and putting in another layer of R-19 in as well as two gable vents. Since we only have 5 ridge vents with no soffet vents or gable vents it should be a big improvement. At least I’m hoping. It should at least improve the cooling off ability at night since the gable vents will allow us to be able to get the hot air out of the attic instead of it just staying there. The ridge vents don’t do much good unless cooler, fresher air can push the hot air out of them. So, I’m hoping for improvement. Also, DH is supposed to put in a ceiling fan in the bedroom while I’m gone. If he hasn’t I’m calling an electrician to do it for us when I get back.

Hopefully I’ll get sleep tonight just due to pure exhaustion and will have enough energy to take some progress photos…

Fiber Friends are First Rate!

So, I had been contemplating spinning long before I actually met Snow. However, Snow made it her personal duty to increase the ranks of spinners in our little corner of the world - especially spinners who enjoy getting together and talking obsessively about their projects on a regular basis

Once she got Amanda and I to both cave and make the BIG purchase she didn’t view her job as over like many would. Instead, she dived into her personal fiber stash and put together some fiber samplers for us so that we can learn a bit about choosing wool for spinning for particular projects.

A group of SnB regulars gathered for Sushi on Friday night and she brough with her this…

Let’s take a closer look…

1 - A blend with angelina
2 - Targhee that is somewhat neppy
3 - Shetland
4 - Superwash Merino
5 - Confetti from Copper Moose
6 & 7 - Coopworth

Amanda is having very good success with the Targhee and a drop spindle. I know I definitely want to try it on my wheel, but I think I might pull out the drop spindle and give some of it a go on there as well…

On a side note, it’s not really a knit a long, but I put it there anyway and you’ve maybe noticed over there in the upper right already. I heard about the first swap at Wax and Feathers and Piddeloop
and was wishing I had gotten in on the exchange as both DH and I love being exposed to new music. So, when Piddleloop announced that she was hosting the 2nd round I signed up! Now, to choose the tracks I want to include on my CD and design the cover…

Lastely, since I had only one entrant in the last contest and the guess wasn’t right, I’ll be announcing a new contest late this week, so stay tuned and exercise your thinking caps, especially if they are of the pithy variety…

KAL Round Up!

It’s been nearly a month since I’ve reported on the knit-a-longs here…

Myself, I have just not been in a lace knitting mood, or at least not in a “read a chart” lace knitting mood so I’ve made NO progress whatsoever on my Shaped Triangle Shawl.

However, we’ve had several additions to the participant list for the Gathering of Lace Along in the last month, so don’t forget to check out their blogs. Not to mention, Melissa M has completed two projects, the Super Spiral Shawl and the Feather and Fan Shawl for her grandmother. She’s not stopping there, she is already working on Frost Flowers! She definitely gets the blue ribbon for most projects!

Also, don’t miss the progress photo of Amy’s Frost Flowers that will serve as a huppah for her brother’s wedding (what a cool idea)! Her blog is brand new, so stop by and say hi to her!

As far as Spearfish Madness, people are still trucking a long and we’ve even had a few recent additions over there as well. The biggest news is that Clemintine did indeed make her deadline to have them done to gift to her BF’s mother for Mother’s Day. This week we had another completed pair added to the line up, this pair of Spearfish socks are a fun “coordinating” pair from Paula.

Both of these KALs are low-key, low-pressure KALs so you are welcome to join either one. There are directions on the pages for each on how to join in.

KAL Day… | A Squatty Gets a Friend…

After a week or so slump, the Spearfish blog is alive and thriving this week, with Ann finishing her pair of socks, before Anita in their own private race. Paula and Clementine each have one sock completed and are on their way on the second sock. Clementine has set a goal for Sunday evening, as she is going to gift them to her BF’s mum! Good luck, Clementine!

In the Gathering of Lace Along we have some new members - some new to lace, some veterans. We’re at ten people total, including myself and my co-host, Snow. Some are still swatching and choosing yarns or patterns. Others are incredibly frustrated It isn’t too late to join the fun! I’ve been so focused on Skyway Scoop that I haven’t gotten any farther on my Shaped Triangle.

Speaking of Skyway Scoop - she looks the same as yesterday (just scroll down), except perhaps the stitches along the neck line are a little stretched out. I knit on the neckline (all ~45-46 inches around) only to rip it last evening. I was devastated, but I was having an incredibly crappy day. Thanks to helpful suggestions and kind words from friends I’m doing better today. Though I may leave Skyway Scoop in the time out corner for today and focus on getting the pattern written up, properly sketched electronically and extrapolated into the other sizes. Just let myself calm down further. I’m still a little wound up from yesteday’s goings on…

I did take a little field trip to Target yesterday to pick up Gilmore Girls Season 3 and did a little impulse shopping/retail therapy. Spring Squatty found a friend…

It looks so good! It is smaller than my previous tri-fold wallet that was black and stuck out like a sore thumb as it sort of peaked out. This one tucks in completely and coordinates with the bag. Plus, it has a large section that has all kinds of accordioned sections so I can sort out all those frequent shopper cards etc. I also love the detail in the zipper pulls. They had a lot of really cute and compact wallets/coin purses in fun spring colors.

Also, while there, I saw that Debbie Macomber’s book, The Shop on Blossom Street was out in paperback and 25% off MSRP, so I picked that up as well. By bedtime, the day had sucked so bad that I couldn’t make myself read the book club book, so I decided I deserved reading something I enjoyed and before I knew it was 100 pages in! There will be more over in Culture Catalog in the next few days probably.

Lastly, much thanks to Margene for bestowing the honor of “Zen Blog of the Week” - my stats have gone through the roof! I some of you peeking in here will come back!

KAL Day…

Okay, I already posted easrlier that the A Gathering of Lace KAL is official. So far there are only three of us so there is plenty of room for you too!

I cast on for my Shaped Triangle on Tuesday, but yesterday had me away from home at DH’s work most of the day and not feeling real well aftwards and today has been crazy, so I’m only at row 16. But, it is a start and I can say that I am liking my Helen’s Lace and I think it will look quite lovely. So far there doesn’t appear to be much in the way of pooling, flashing or striping (crosses fingers that the trend continues). I’ll have a pic when there is more worth photographing.

I suppose now that I’m knitting a real shawl it’ll be time for me to finally purchase some blocking wires, huh? Man, this has been quite the week for becoming an adult knitter! LOL!

On the Spearfish KAL front, we have another pair of completed Spearfish in handpainted Opal, this time in a turquiose colorway. Check them out, and congratulate Azhar on her beautiful socks!

Remember, the contest portion has been won, so the pressure is off and it is now an ordinary KAL. So, if you have the Spearfish pattern join us at http://designedlykristi.typepad.com/spearfishmadness

It’s Official!

The site for the Gathering of Lace-a-Long is set up and open! It might get tweaked a bit, but it is there! - http://designedlykristi.typepad.com/gatheringlacealong/

Sign up and grab the button (or make one specific to the project you are going to make)!

A few days ago when first contemplaing the Shaped Triangle I ran across a site that had photos of at least the majority of the projects on their site, but I can’t find it again. If you come across it, please let me know so I can add a link to it to the KAL blog for people who perhaps don’t own the book yet.

I’ll be back with more soon, but I’ve got to do some cooking for tonight’s supper…

Gathering Lace-a-Long

My post the other day about using my Helen’s Lace yarn from Lorna’s Laces for the Shaped Triangle Shawl (p 20) prodded Snow to also do the same with her solid colored Helen’s Lace yarn. It seems there is a fair bit of interest to knit items from this realtively new to paperback format book so I think Snow and I will be hosting a KAL.

I’ll be working on setting up the KAL blog today and hope to have it ready tomorrow. If you wish to join us in the KAL, just leave a comment here (being sure to include your e-mail addy) and I’ll get you invited to the blog as soon as I have it set up.

The Well-Traveled Socks…

While packaging the Spearfish Socks to head out on their 1516 mi journey from here to thier new home (yes, that is clue) I realized these are quite the traveling socks. They were inspired by scenery in South Dakota, knit in Colorado and will be living 1500+ mi east and slightly south (yes, another clue) in yet a third state. Too bad I didn’t drive the hour up to Wyoming and do some of the knitting there, LOL!

If you’re curious to see the wrapper I designed a little closer up, click here.

In other news, I’ll be adding another button over in the upper right in the not too distant future. In case you didn’t know, Snow is a big bully. Don’t let her musings on kielbasa toes fool you. She twisted and twisted my arm to join her Blackwater Abbey KAL. It’s an ongoing one with no formal start or finish date, so with the low pressure I decided I could join in. I’m not sure what I’ll be knitting for it yet. It might be socks or it might be one of the totes. We’ll see. I probably won’t have time to get to it for a couple months anyway so I have time to think about it. Give me a holler if you have a suggestion for me… And, join with us yourself why don’t you?

Baby Got Back!

Yes! My birthday present to myself - a finished Shapely Tank back panel

DH didn’t get me anything knitting related for my birthday. I think mostly because he figures I’ll buy it for myself. Instead, he gave me a DVD and CD and a promise to take me shopping for some clothes. Which, is good, because I will likely use the b-day money I got from his parents, and my grandparents to get a swift, a ball winder and hopefully the Denise Interchangables. Shopping for clothes somewhere other than Target is actually quite exciting. And, I have no shorts that are suitable for wearing in public anymore and as hot as we get here and since we do not have any AC, shorts are a must!

Emma ended up being muzzled at the vet yesterday, but we complimented on her muscle tone and told her food (Eagle Pack’s Lamb and Rice formula) agreed with her very well. The little trooper had blood drawn for her heartworm test (negative) and three vaccinations. Then she decided to be sticky and sat at my feet while I knit yesterday afternoon. In recent months she has taken to sleeping on her bed back in our dark (NE corner of the house) bedroom and not spending any time in the basement with me until the evening when DH is home. DH doesn’t have to be in the basement too though, which has me perplexed. She is definitely my dog and attached to me more than DH, yet she lays all by herself in the bedroom all day. I’m hoping when it really starts getting warm she’ll come back to the cooler basement with me as I got her to be a companion while I spend 10 hours a day by myself at home and I miss her when she sits upstairs.

I think I’ll be casting on for SIL2’s Sigma tank today. I’m going to do it in Lion Brand CottonEase in Sugar Plum and Candy Blue. It sounds like we’ll be celebrating on May 9th, which means we’ll be headed down on the 7th possibly, though likely the 8th. So, I’m setting a DDD of May 6th so there is time to wash and block. But, since it is in the round and about 15 inches small in circumfrence than my own shapely tank I think it should go pretty quickly. I just need to finalize my striping pattern and get the entire pattern written out for her size and my gauge.

I’m contemplating a trip down to Loveland a little later too. There is a new LYS there and I could meet up with DH for lunch (if he doesn’t want the usual pizza they always have on Fridays at work)… I’m not sure if that will stiffle my obsessive need to get out of town or not, but it couldn’t hurt (well, anything other than my pocketbook), right?