Stash Expansion!

Those darn birthday discounts! I was lured back to Woolen Treasures in Loveland today to get my discount. Since it is the end of the month and I’m saving up spending money for my MN trip I kept it small.

When I first started knitting I thought knitting socks was just ridiculous. All that yarn and all those tiny, tiny stitches! I couldn’t imagine it! Well, I bought Opal sock yarn (CR-9 - I think - 9 and 24 are the only numbers on the band and that looks about right from the pics on the web), a set of #1 Brittany needles (I was going to go for addiTurbos so I could do the magic loop thing, but they didn’t have them in that size any longer than 12 inches.

I won’t do my first sock with this, but I’m hoping this is what I’ll be able to bring with me to work on while I’m traveling in June. I think I’ll make a thick pair of socks with some Reynolds Saucy first. I *love* thick socks and am at home so much that if they are just house socks that will be okay.

Sequential Sigma Flies…

We have split! On Monday at Mugs I hit the 1/2 way point as far as total rows goes, then today at my LYS I hit the armholes and got to split it into the front and back. I’m just a few more rows short of starting the neckline shaping in the back. I’m really liking the stripes and am hoping SIL2 likes the tank. I know I do, but it’s about 12 inches shy of fitting me :-/ I’ll have her younger sister who lives in town try it on, she’s bustier but frame-wise is the same size as her older sister. The pic isn’t real accurate on the overall shape as the front half of the stitches are on a string of dental floss (good thing I had that dental appointment this morning before the knitting tea, LOL) and that scrunches it up a bit. I’m hoping that garter stitch border on the bottom will lay flat once I wash and block it…

Not a lot of knitting going on…

I have other big deadlines coming up this week so there hasn’t been much knitting going on around here. Though my mind has been wrapping around it nearly constantly, planning new projects, new book acquisitions and stash enhancements.

On that topic, no one out there reading (I know there aren’t a lot of you, but…) can help me spend my money on another knitting book? A few of you have to have an opinion on a book of knitting stitch patterns… Or a web site with some?? Come on, what do I have to do??

Tonight is SnB though! So I’ll definitely get some knitting done tonight.

Saturday I finally go out of dodge and DH drove me up to Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP). I tried to go to The Stitchin’ Den, but the address I had was an old one and we didn’t find them until 4:45pm. Their hours say they are open until 5pm, but they were already locked up and lights out when we pulled in. That’s probabably okay because I doubt DH would have had much patience with me. So, now that I know where it is and since I didn’t get to do all the picture taking I would have liked when I was in RMNP I think I may make a trek there by myself in the not too distant future. Perhaps the end of this week, but more likely next week. Plus, Eclectic Academy could possibly have gotten their act together and paid me if I wait until next week…

On the reading front I have now officially finished reading both Angels and Demons and The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown. To think I was concerned about getting through both of those before the 17th of May! LOL! Being a former science/math geek in a prior life I really enjoyed them. I’m looking forward to the discussion of The DaVinci Code at book club on the 17th. Has anyone read his other books? How do they compare?

I think next up is Ecotopia (if I get over to B&N today and they actually have it) and possibly I’ll get started on Color: A Natural History of the Palette as well.

Oh, I think I forgot to mention last week that I finished Zen and the Art of Knitting. It wasn’t quite what I was expecting, though I’m not sure exactly what it was I was expecting. Though I am glad I read it. It was an enjoyable read and with the format of small anecdotes it lent itself well to small snippets of reading time.

Time for a poll….

What is your favorite book for a broad variety of stitching patterns? I’d like one that includes simple textures as well as cables and some lace patterns and I *need* your help! Enlighten me!

Spring Sale Goodness!

New knitty goodness for less than $80! Wheee! All but the cone will be for a poncho. Those colors look really good on me (especially with my hair color from a bottle)…

I got the eggplant yarn from an Ebay auction and it arrived about 10 days ago or so. I’m going to make random sparkly stripes in a tank and it will go with a sarong I am making from the fabric. I think it should be a fun, cool outfit that still has all the fun autumn colors I like so much. Now, I just hope I get it done in time to wear while it is still hot.

Of course I am in Colorado so I don’t know what I’m worried about. Here we are at the end of April and under a winter storm watch, LOL! We still have the occassional odd 80 degree day in November just as we have been known to get a snowfall as late as early June. So, no worries!

Woolen Treasures in Loveland

Second times a charm…

After heading to Loveland on Monday and discovering that the new LYS in Loveland is closed on Mondays I decided to head down again and have lunch again with DH today. Then, I stopped by Woolen Treasures.

They are on 4th Street, across and a store or two east of The Book Rack. Downtown Loveland is really torn up right now and that includes their block so it isn’t the easiest to get there right now. But it is worth the trip. The selection is not bad considering it has been open less than a month. They are focusing on smaller companies so prices are kind of high, though competative or those specific yarns. There are some larger brand yarns like Mission Falls and Debbie Bliss, but nearly all the yarns there are not available at Lambspun in Ft. Collins so that is great. She had a large selection of Cherry Tree Hill, Fiesta, Interlacements. She had some Trendsetter and Plymouth yarns. There was Blue Sky Alpacas, Green Mountain Spinnery, Opal and more. I know I’m missing stuff.

I was really tempted by Interlacement’s New York (a rayon ribbon yarn), but at 750 yd and 6 sts/inch on sz 7 needles I’d really need two at $51 ea to make a tank in my size but I would have quite a bit left over. The Fiesta Gelato was highly appealing to me too. I especially liked the clematis or the stargazer colorways. The Mission Falls 1824 cotton is on special this month and I was tempted, but I resisted given the trouble I have been having with the cotton yarns.

I actually left without buying anything. I’m kind of surprised. But I sort of have my birthday money all ear marked - ball winder, swift and a Denise Interchangable set. And it is the end of the month now so there isn’t a lot of “play” money in the budget at the moment. To top that off, the big yearly sale at Lambspun is tomorrow. I think I head out there right away tomorrow morning and see if they have the ball winders and swifts on sale and their inventory changes quite a bit from week to week so I might end up getting some yarn there tomorrow… We’ll have to see…

Stitch ‘n Bitch

I had a great time at Mug’s last night. Only one other person showed up, but that is one more than the previous two weeks! And, it ends up we share a lot of the same background in a way that is *almost* freaky, LOL! I won’t get into that, in case she doesn’t want others knowing about it.

I got to see Onde in person! She was swatching for one of the Onde sweaters in a lilac colorway. The final sweater looks awesome and she said it wasn’t so hard to figure out the pattern since they have so many diagrams and such. I may have to fold to the allure of the Onde before fall… My only reservation is the majority acrylic content, well that and ordering from overseas…

On the Sequential Sigma, I am up to the second icrease and just past the second single stripe of the Fibonacci sequence. Whee! I wasn’t nearly as fast knitting last night while talking, but it sure was fun.

I skipped the knitting tea at the LYS today though. I just wasn’t in the mood. It’s tough because Tuesdays already get a huge chunk taken out of them for the 2.5 hour choir rehearsal so sometimes I just feel that I don’t have the time to go all the way across town and knit for several hours. Plus, everyone has gotten on the kick of going out to eat somewhere for lunch and it always ends up being a nearly $10 meal once you add in a drink and that is money I’d rather spend on yarn or needles etc.

Yesterday I tried to go to the new, LYS in Loveland - Woolen Treasures. But, they are closed on Mondays. I did get to have a nice lunch with DH, but I wish I had driven all the way to have gotten something done other than eating. I guess it just means I’ll get to go down and have lunch with him either later this week again or next week on some day other than Monday

Happy Monday!

Yep, to brighten one of the otherwise least liked days of week, it is once again time to get together and knit. Join us tonight!

I wasn’t feeling too well Friday evening and we had been invited to a wine tasting party. Well, I sent DH and I stayed home and knit and watched Sarah, Plain & Tall and Skylark. I made huge progress on the tank for my SIL2’s birthday. Which, I am calling Sequentual Sigma since I’m using the Fibonacci Sequence to do the stripes. I also added some shaping into it so it isn’t such a box. I’m thinking I shouldn’t have too much trouble getting this done in time for her birthday celebration with family on Mother’s Day.

That said, I’m going to try resist the knitting until Stitch ‘n Bitch tonight. Instead I’ll be focusing on those fabric art journal pages as I have less than 2 weeks to get those in the mail along with a second art journal made of watercolor paper. So, I need to focus on that stuff during the work day and try keep the knitting to the evenings.

Yesterday I also finished Angels & Demons by Dan Brown. To think I was worried about getting through that & DaVinci Code before book club on May 17th, LOL! I guess that really isn’t going to be much of a problem…

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?

Almost there…

The back of my Shapely Tank is almost done. I have about 40 rows left or so, though they are getting smaller and smaller and thus quicker and quicker to complete!

I ended up not getting any knitting done yesterday as I running all day. Between my therapeutic massage, voice lessons, taking the dog to the groomer and a last minute invitation to an “aromatherapy workshop” that ended up being a pyramid scheme thing and not much about essential oils so much as all of this company’s products. But busy was nice since I’ve been couped up in the house writing lessons for the past 7 weeks. There have been sooo many things that needed to be done that haven’t.

Today, my birthday present is taking Emma to the vet… Well, at least the groomers let me in on her little secret of being so scared and such when I’m around, but being fully cooperative when I leave. They told me at the vet it’ll be best to take her into the exam room and step outside. I would have never thought of that. Wish us luck, LOL!