Trans-Siberian et al...

No new picture this week even though I've accomplished LOTS of stuff. Well... more than I'd planned but surely less than I'd hoped...

I finished the socks in Gypsy Girl's Ice Cream Sundae. I did a pattern called Garden Trellis by Gail Dennis and they came out fabulous! (The reason I don't have a pic of those is because they jumped onto my feet for work one day and now they're in the wash. On feet or off, the next time they're free, they're posing. ) I also finished the pair of anklet style athletic socks for oldest daughter. Those also came out wonderful. Because I took a lace wt. yarn and doubled it, they're nice and cushy and should be very warm indeed. Then I got my Knitpicks shipment and proceeded to knit up the Hubby a pair of thick "woodsman's socks" from Elizabeth Zimmerman's book Knitting Around. I'd taken measurements of his feet a couple weeks ago and used those to get these socks started and finished. Wow, what a quick project in Knitpicks' Shamrock yarn. In fact, they knitted up so quickly and I have enough yarn left over that I'm tossing together a pair of mittens for me. More on that later....

Finally, I have a pair started for younger daughter. I took one strand of Trekking XXL and mixed it with a strand of merino lace wt. Funny, but if you saw it, you wouldn't think it would work. It looks really strange because the Trekking is mostly blue... er, sky blue with other colors worked in. I mixed it with a heathered green lace wt. It looks really odd until the striping of the XXL begins to kick in and, somehow, the whole thing is working. Another pic I have to take, but I was the extreme of lazy yesterday.

I never seem to get a day that I can just take off.... No getting dressed. No brushing my teeth. No chores. No expectations. No accomplishments.

So I remedied that and took the day off. I sat at my computer all day and played Bookworm Adventures. Oh boy, that was fun! Talk about testing your vocabulary and how many words can you come up with that use Q, X and J? LOL! Anyway, so I played all day. Then I went upstairs last night and started the mittens.

I was looking around for a pattern and then kinda thunked myself in the head and asked why I needed a pattern? After all the mittens I knitted when the girls were young and the pairs of fingerless mitts I just did not too long ago... Who needs a stinking pattern? You make a tube, you add a gusset for a thumb, knit some more tube and then decrease to finish it. What's so hard? So I started knitting and the first mitten is coming along fine.

The stupid part about all this is that I've been running around all week with cold hands. The temps really plummeted this week and driving has been a pain without any kind of hand covering. I have all this yarn sitting around my house, so why do I have cold hands? Because I've been concentrating on Christmas presents instead of whipping up a pair for myself to avoid the cold hands. Yup, I finally banged my head on the keyboard and knocked some sense into myself. I have two weeks to Christmas and I'm already 1/4 of the way through my last project. Yup, I can take a quick break and solve the cold hand problem before finishing that last project!

Anyway... I mentioned Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Yup, we've got tickets to the show tonight. We're sitting in the section right next to the stage. Can't wait! I've gone to the show the last two years and it's fabulous! Two years ago I took the girls and we sat down in the far corner from the stage. Last year, I added the Hubby to the crowd and we sat about halfway down the arena on the side. This year, we're sitting basically next to the stage. Does that mean next year we'll be on stage with the group? LOL!

All the news groups are predicting some really BAD weather for tonight. Freezing rain and sleet and snow and all kinds of messy stuff. I really, really don't want to blow off almost $300 worth of tickets because of a bit of precipitation, so please keep your fingers crossed for us. I don't want to look at the family and say, "Gee, the Christmas present that never happened..."

Yes, I have the DVD. We could toss it on the TV and watch, but it's not the same. Their concerts aren't even about the music even though the music is fabulous. What better way to generate the goodness of Christmas spirit than a concert with Christmas music? But what makes them so special is the show itself. The lights, the storyline and the special effects. Lights and flames and stars and snow. Trusses that move and lights that flash as fast as they can pick a song... It's an experience, plain and simple. And it's one that will carry you through the rest of the year. Not a concert that you walk out and think it's terrific but you can't remember much after a month or so. It's unlike any concert I've been to and I've been to well over 100 in my life.

I know their concerts are sold out by now, but if you haven't been to a show, get them on your list for next year. Unless you have someone who really HATES pounding drums and electric guitars, drag their butts to the show next year and see how their smile softens from generic "Yeah, yeah, let's be nice to each other" to genuine goodwill towards all men.

Worked a lot this week. Had the usual 40 hrs at the regular post and then worked the 2nd job on Mon and Thurs and added a basketball game on Wed night. Oh.... good news so far. Shelby interviewed to manage the women's basketball team on Thursday and it looks good for her to get the job. This will be terrific on her resume when she really begins to concentrate on her major, which is athletic training. She feels bad about not being able to always play with the pep band at the games, but I told her that team manager will do more for her resume than pep band. Now for the joke. (Isn't there always one? ) As a manager, she'll get a small break on her tuition at the school. This is what they offer for recompense for the time it takes to manage. Only she already has, basically, free tuition through my employee benefit and her scholarship. So when she mentioned that, they said maybe they can work out a deal to pay for some or all of her books. I don't see that happening, but I'll keep my fingers crossed on that one. She's got the free tuition and going to apply to become an RA (resident assistant) which could garner free housing. Now, if they could actually manage to pay for some of her books (which cost us approx $850 this past semester alone), she could practically go to the university for free. Even if they can't do the books (since the bookstore isn't run by the university, I don't see this happening--they're affiliated with, but not owned by), even if they can absorb her lab fees. Those were $200 this last semester and she's got another $250 this upcoming semester.

We'll see. Now to get the younger daughter as ambitious towards her education. She's looking at a college in Florida that offers no housing whatsoever... Yikes! But we still have another year before applications go out.

One more week of work and then I'm off for five weeks. I can't wait! I'd like the chance to get my house in order and do the final preparations for Christmas. Pull out all the presents and see what I have for everyone. Get them all wrapped and pretty and placed under the tree. Shop and cook and clean. And then start knitting sweaters. I have three sweaters planned.

The first two are both by Philosopher's Wool. First I'm going to do their basic Color Your Own for me. This way, if I screw it up, it's on my own project. After all, their designs are meant to be steeked and I've never steeked anything. This should be interesting. Someone on one of the yahoo groups mentioned that she bought a sweater at Salvation Army to try steeking before cutting into her own sweater. I might do that. HAven't decided on that yet until I read the instructions from PW. But, either way, if I screw it up, it'll be on my own sweater and not one I have planned for someone else.

Second sweater will be a combined Christmas/birthday present for my brother, Tom. It's an intermediate design called Timber Framed. I think I can handle that after several pairs of colorwork mitts. And I should have one steeked sweater under my belt by that time also. And both designs are going to be in the Fire colors. Think my family has a thing for red?

Lastly, I'm dying to try a Dale of Norway Olympic design. About 15 years ago, a local yarn shop was going out of business and I stocked up on patterns. I found a gorgeous pattern for the Albertville '92 design that the ski team wore for the Olympics. I've been holding it all these years and figure the PW sweaters can be my beginner steps to finally making this sweater. It'll probably take me until next winter to complete it because it's knitted on size 1 and 3 needles, but that could be my big project for next year. And if you think I'm not going to enter all these things in the Durham Fair next year, you're crazier than me... LOL! Am I stocking up on entries or what?

Well, have a wonderful week. One last week of work with lots of hours, but then I'll get five weeks of rest and relaxation. I've definitely earned some time with Bookwork Adventures this year...

Wow... another pic

Okay, maybe I should have taken pictures separately but that would require an expertise that's beyond me. I mean, I'd have to figure out how to get two pictures onto the page without squishing them together...

The green one is what I'm now calling the "shawl from hell" and it's finally off the needles. It's the Sarah Blanche shawl from Cheryl Oberle's book "Folk Shawls". Lovely, lovely and probably easy for anyone who doesn't use the tip of their finger to push the needle out from under the stitch.

I gew up knitting "American" or "throwing" my yarn. So when faced with rows that I'd have to do 720 YO's, I fell back into my comfort zone of knitting right-handed. Yes, I had to teach myself continental in order to do the colorwork on the mitts, but I didn't want my hands to fall off with each of those rows. So I threw 720 YO's and then would come back and use my left index finger to push the needle out from those 720 YO's. If you're diabetic, think about pricking yourself 720 times, getting a break for (at most) 6 rows and then doing it all over again. Yup, I can now attest that the Knitpicks Interchangeable needle set in metal has sharp tips...

So the lovely and wonderful shawl from hell is done. I used Knitpicks' Wool of the Andes in Forest Heather and combined it with their Alpaca Cloud in Moss Heather. I wanted to add that little bit of warmth that you'd get from anything alpaca considering there's a lot of holes in this thing.... At first, it was a weird combination and I wasn't sure it would work together, but the more I knitted (you think I was going to frog this thing!?!?! ), it came together and worked into a lovely piece. Now it's done and I hope to never have to repeat that one.

The burgundy is the Wool Peddler's Shawl from same book, same author. Now this was a wonderful treat to work on. Came together in one measly week. Again, done in Wool of the Andes, but I chose Cranberry. I know, I know. Red and it should be bright. But I wasn't sure if it was going to my mother-in-law, who wouldn't have batted an eye at Strawberry or Cherry Blossom, or my aunt-in-law, who's highly conservative. And it's a good thing I chose the Cranberry. I think I'm going to switch presents. The Wool Peddler's Shawl is smaller overall and Aunt Lois is smaller in stature than my MIL. My MIL is not tiny. She's around 5'10" and she's got the frame of a farmer... which works since she grew up on a farm. Good Italian farming stock is she... Now Aunt Lois used to be a lot bigger. Believe me, marrying into this family, I felt like the showcase midget. I was 5'3" and weighed all of 115 lbs. (Don't ask me my weight now or I'll have to hunt you down... )

Anyway, the whole point of this is that Aunt Lois is shrinking fast. She's now even smaller than me. Yes, she's on a race with my Mom as to who will disappear first. Mom started out smaller at around 4'11" when I was married, but she's only lost about an inch in the almost 20 years I've been married. Aunt Lois has to be down about 4" or 5". So she gets the shawl that's smaller and my MIL will get the Sarah Blanche because it's bigger. Logical choice. And, someday, when there's just a pair of shoes walking in my door, covered with a shawl, I'll know who it is by which shawl is draped over the laces.

Last thing to knit for Christmas is Hubby's socks. I started those last night. Man, they're big. This might take a while, but I still have four weeks or so to get them completed.

Then I have to order the Philosopher's Wool kit for my brother. He was up for the holidays and I had Mom take him onto the website to choose which color he'd like. I'm not giving him a choice for pattern. The Timber-Framed will look terrific on him. I just figured he'd choose either Neutrals or Woodland because they're neutral colors and would go with everything under the sun. Nope. He likes Fire. So next payday, I'll order the Timber-Framed in Fire for him. It will be combination Christmas/birthday present because I can pretty much guarantee that I won't have it done by Christmas, but I'm fairly certain I can finish it before the end of February. So, somewhere in that time, he'll get a nice package.

Thanksgiving was lovely. This year, for various reasons, it was just my family -- my Mom, my brother, his two sons and his oldest's girlfriend. Lots of food, good conversation and Christmas tunes in the background. Okay, so let's move on to the amusement. (You think I could get through any holiday without some kind of comedy occurring?!? )

Black Friday. I don't even like venturing outside the house, let alone within 14 miles of a mall. So oldest daughter asks if she can use my car to take herself, her sister and her sister's boyfriend to the mall for shopping. Hey, be my guest. I have a shawl to finish. So off they go. They disappear for hours and I crawl upstairs to work on said shawl and finally get it off the needles while watching some old classics on the DVD. Since this is a day of leftovers, I don't take note when the kids come back and oldest daughter is off and running again. Later that night, I send the dogs on their nightly reconnaisance mission in the yard and Lacey is barking like mad. It's 9:30 or so, so I go to check things out. This isn't your normal neighborhood gossip bark. This is "there's something in the yard and I don't like it" bark. So I'm looking back at the woods, hoping it's not a skunk because I don't want to deal with that this late at night and I see something lying in front of the garage.

Hmm... what is that?!?! It takes me a moment to figure it out. It's my front bumper. I glance around to see what's missing. My truck, that's what. My little Kia Sportage is missing, but my bumper is lying neat and tidy in front of the garage. So I call in the dog, go in to the Hubby and ask if there's something he'd like to tell me. He just smiles and tells me that older daughter had a bit of trouble negotiating the space near a column at the mall.

Long story made short (yeah, I know... too late ), I ask older daughter the next morning after she's parked my truck facing away so you can't see that the whole front is missing--she said her parking job wasn't deliberate and I reply, "uh huh." So I ask her why everyone in the house knows what happened except me. She just smiles sheepishly and says, "Hey, it could have been worse! It could have been my truck!"

Hmm......

I'll keep you posted if I allow her to live long enough to get those mitts....

Another pair of mitts...

This is the new pair to replace the pair that went MIA. A new design, taking different elements from different graphs in Lizbeth Upitis' book and putting them together. In fact, if you notice anything about them, let me know. If you compare to the original pair that I made (from my post listed on Oct 13th), I think this one moves the colors at a more pleasing gradation. In order, the school's colors are blue, gold and red is a last, not-very-well-known color. I added the white because the teams wear white shirts at home games... er, sometimes. But I thought the white gave balance to the others which can be so strong.

In the first design, I started with the red and blue and gradually worked to white before getting into the blue and yellow main section. IOW, a total turnabout from red/white to blue/yellow. This one changes one element with each design and ends up with the blue as primary "background", so I think it works better.

Anyway, those are done. So I have those, the mitts for youngest daughter and the shawl for my mother-in-law completed. I'm hoping to finish the shawl for Aunt Lois this week.

Then I went out last weekend and bought some Shetland to make Hubby a pair of socks. I took all kinds of measurements of his feet so I can work up a basic design that will fit. (My Mom also wants the measurements because she wants to make a pair of socks for my brother and his feet are almost the same as the DH, just a wee bit smaller - size 10 as opposed to a 10.5 - so I'll pass those over to Mom as soon as I work up the first sock to see if it fits correctly.) Hubby has always told me not to bother making him a pair of socks, but he gets so cold when he's out shoveling or plowing or -- God forbid -- has to do a tow in the middle of the night. This wool is a bit rough, so I'll warn him not to wear them right next to his skin, but they should keep him nice and toasty when he's outside in the elements if he wears them as an oversock.

Course, if I do this, I might let loose a monster. He never wanted to go to a hockey game either. Now I can't leave him home...

I'm going to try to post again tomorrow. I have a sock that I'm working on and it's absolutely delicious. I found a free pattern called Garden Trellis and I'm making it up in Gypsy Girl's Ice Cream Sundae colorway (www.stonebarnfibers.com). This is beyond gorgeous. Another example of perfect yarn with perfect pattern. I did 8 pattern repeats and I'm curious if I'll have enough yarn for the foot. So I ran a lifeline at the end of pattern 7, but we'll see. I'm pretty sure I'll have enough, but you never know.

New Pics...

Here they are! I'm doing this because I highly doubt that youngest daughter reads my blog. I know my Mom does, but I doubt my kids wonder what I'm up to or what I'm working on. Though the youngest flirts with knitting, she's more interested in the concept of creating and designing things than actually making them...

Anyway, these are the mitts she's getting for Christmas. I took graph #92 (I believe) from Lizbeth Upitis' book on Latvian mittens and adapted it to the fingerless design. I added the thumb gusset in plain purple and then added the braiding at the top of the gusset and the top of the hand for stability. I'd love to say that I'd planned it perfectly to get the braid at the top of the thumb gusset, but it was sheer luck that the bind off row coincided with a plain purple row in the actual hand design.

These still have to be washed and blocked, but I'm going to do all the projects at once on some weekend (probably after Thanksgiving while the rest of the world is doing the mall crawl and I avoid it like the plague ). I plan to cover my bed in towels and pin everything down for an entire day to give them a chance to dry. It helps that I have an overhead fan to keep the air circulating nicely. But I'll close the door (and prop it to keep kitties and dogs from saying "Ooooooo! New bedcover to rub all over!!!!" ).

Let's see if I can drop a second picture down here or if it will rise to the top of the page.... Oh well, it's also at the top of the page, but it's obviously the one on the right. Cherry Tree Hill in Indian Summer done in Jeannie Townsend's Cascading Leaves pattern. I don't think the pattern shows as much as I'd like, but I like the symmetry of Indian Summer and Cascading Leaves... I would never think of purple as an "Indian Summer" color, but the colorway is gorgeous. The bronzes and coppers and browns with the purple were simply too pretty to leave orphaned at the store.

I don't know what it is, but I'm in a "brown" mood lately. Not one of my favorite colors, which is dumb because it really does go with everything, but I've been knitting a lot with brown lately. I tried the magic loop method for the first time and did a headband in an Icelandic design from Dale's 92 Albertville flyer in brown, red, orange and peach with two single lines of sky blue. Came out really nice. Once I get that inside seam put together, that'll be another present for oldest daughter.

I also bought some yarn from Cathi at www.stonebarnfibers.com in her Gypsy Girl colorway of Cattails. Oh, what rich colors!!! My monitor didn't do this colorway justice. Course, I knew it would be better in person than on the computer, so that's why I ordered it and I certainly wasn't disappointed. I can't wait to cast that on.

But first I have to finish more projects. I'm into the second repeat of the pattern on Aunt Lois' dropped garter stitch shawl. It's slow work because there are two dropped stitch rows for every 12 rows of simple garter. All those yarn overs take time. I might end up taking that one to work with me so I can make some noticeable progress. After all, I knitted up my mother-in-law's shawl (the Wool Peddler's Shawl) in one week. I could probably manage this one in a week also, but I haven't carried it with me yet. Maybe this week once I finish the second pair of fingerless mitts.

Would probably be a good idea also. The second pair are for oldest daughter to replace the pair I'd made her that were either lost or stolen. She saw the first pair and I want these to be a surprise. I took several elements from the graphs in Upitis' book and combined them for my own, switching out the colors hopefully in a logical progression. I'm only into the third color change so I don't know yet how the whole project will work yet, but my fingers are crossed. So far, so good.

Let's see what else is new...

I also ordered fiber from Cathi at www.stonebarnfibers.com . Some gorgeous merino in a colorway called Daffodil. I've been trying to spin with merino/tencel and wondering why I was having some trouble. Damn stuff was slippery as all get out. Well.... Duh! It's got tencel in it. So I ordered plain merino to see if I could handle it easier. I was thinking of taking the colorway and plying it with a solid, so I ordered another 4 oz. of her solid color "Spice", thinking the contrast would work nicely. She was out of Spice. So she wrote and asked if I had a second color choice and I asked her to pick one. Her sense of color with her hand-dying is sooooo exquisite that I totally trust her judgement. And she sent me 4 oz. of the most gorgeous Ruby. Wow! I know I received it a week ago, but I haven't been able to touch it. Too much work and other obligations that kept me from being home much in the last ten days. But today is definitely a laundry and spinning day and my fingers are itching already. (I can't forget the laundry, though, or I won't have underwear to wear tomorrow... I bet you'll sleep better tonight knowing this stuff... LOL!)

I also got smart. I received my check for October on the second part-time job and I've decided that some of that money will go towards a "cleaning lady". A friend of mine's daughter is trying to save to buy a nice used car and she hires out for $15/hour. Yes, I did do some cleaning yesterday, but I'd much rather pay someone to do it for me and spend my time spinning, so I've hired her to come over and help clean and organize my mess. Her mom says she's wonderful and I'm more than happy to contribute to her car fund if she's willing to do the stuff I can't stand doing. (Give me a yard and I'll work for hours and hours. Bring me inside and I resent every single moment with a sponge or a broom in my hand... )

Oh, btw, remember I was trying to write for Harlequin for their new Spice Briefs line? Well, they don't like my stuff. So to heck with them. I'm going to investigate more with my knitting and spinning. I'm thinking of going for the Masters Certification with The Knitting Guild of America. I heard an interview with Ann Budd on the Knitpicks podcast and she says that she wouldn't recommend it for everyone because it's very time consuming and very detailed. She actually did get her certification and she said she learned a lot, though she doesn't use a lot of the new techniques with the kind of designing she does.

I was thinking that it might be something I could look for. Lord knows, I have the time at work. Maybe if I can get through some of the projects I have lined up, it might be worth it. Especially if I want to teach knitting. I think I'd make a good teacher. And I'd learn more new techniques and might find a way to incorporate new ones into what I'm already doing. I can already cast on in about six different ways, though I'd like to learn more ways to bind off. I can sew a seam so it's practically invisible (though no sewing at all is even more desirable... ). I can set in a sleeve and pick up stitches. Increase and decrease. Why not get the certification to go with it? It's a thought. I'd love to hear opinions on this.

Okay, off to start more laundry and hop in the shower. Have my "cleaning girl" coming today and have roving in the other room that's tired of being ignored. Have a wonderful week!

No pics this week...

Because what I've completed is stuff that I can't flash around while youngst daughter is home. Yup, I finished the first of her fingerless mitts and they're simply gorgeous! I took one of the patterns from Lizbeth Upitis' book that doesn't have a picture and did my little adaption into fingerless and this pair really came out spectacular. (I'll try to sneek a pic in about mid-week when she's burrowed in her room with the phone.) Course, I might be able to finish the second mitt tomorrow since it's knitting up really fast, but more projects also OTN so we'll see who screams the loudest for attention when I get to work in the morning.

I also finished the first sock using Jeannie Townsend's Cascading Leaves pattern done in Cherry Tree Hill's colorway called Indian Summer. It satisfies my sense of "order" that I use that pattern with that colorway. And it came out looking really nice. I'm halfway down the cuff on the second sock and that should be done this week if I don't get tangled up in the new shawl.

Yes, I received my latest order from Knitpicks and I started Aunt Lois' shawl last night. Got their Wool of the Andes in Forest Heather and I'm also adding a single strand of Alpaca Cloud in Moss Heather. It's looking terrific together and that will be turned into the Sarah Blanche shawl from Cheryl Oberle's Folk Shawls. I worked for about 3 or 4 hours and only got halfway through the 5th row (which is where I'm putting my first dropped stitch row), so this will be a long process, but it's going to be wonderful.

In the shipment, I simply had to order a ball of Palette in the Golden Heather. Wow, what a gorgeous color. A bit of red to soften and tone down the bright yellow of the normal Palette. I won't be able to use it in the older daughter's mitts, but I'm thinking of a way to use it in Dale pattern that I bought about 15 years ago. Yup, I was digging around downstairs and found a few patterns that I'd bought a LONG time ago when a LYS was going out of business. (No, not from lack of patronage, but because they were closing the complex where they rented space.) They'd put everything on sale and I actually bought more patterns than yarn. Got a wonderful pattern for an Icelandic sweater that I wanted to try my hand at. Considering my fear of colorwork until lately, I'd ignored it. Then I stumbled over it a few weeks ago and now it's calling my name with a vengeance.

Considering this would be my first sweater-sized colorway, I'm intimidated by the thought of actually knitting it up in Dale of Norway yarn (which it was designed for). The cost would be well over $100 and closer to $150. OTOH, I was looking yesterday and I think I could knit it up in Knitpicks Palette yarns for about $50. AND (and this is what has me itching to get moving), I could work that gorgeous Golden Heather into the design. Course, I'm thinking of trying the hat first. Just to see for gauge and suitability and if I can actually do it. If I like what I turn out, I can order the yarn and go for the whole shebang in a full sweater.

And that would give me the opportunity to test my color skills before tackling a Philosophers Wool Timber Framed for my brother for his birthday in Feb. Plus I can test steeking (YIKES!!!! Scissors to knitted fabric?!?!?) before I do something that's going to be a gift.

In the meantime, I have MIL's shawl all done. I'm going to wash and block that one right after Thanksgiving. Yup, I'm a smoker and the last thing I want is the smell of smoke to come tumbling out of the gift wrap before she even sees the shawl. So I'll wait and block that one when I get the Aunt-in-law's shawl done and get them washed (iow, get rid of smell), blocked and wrapped after the turkey holiday and with plenty of time before the Christmas holiday.

Sounds like a plan and the next few months are basically all mapped out on what projects will be one the needles....

OH!!! Before I forget. I got a shipment from Cathi at Stone Barn Fibers. I ordered some hand-painted yarn for socks (what else? ) in the colorways Cattails and Ice Cream Sundae. Hmm... yummy and gorgeous, so I'm sure they'll be on the needles as soon as I can get done with the Cascading Leaves and Textured Argyles. I also ordered some gorgeous merino to try to spin for socks. I ordered 4 oz. of her handpainted merino in Daffodil (which is yellow with streaks of red and green and even a few others) and I'd wanted to try plying that with a solid strand of Spice. Course, this being Oct and I totally forgot that anything orange would be gone in a heartbeat, I wasn't surprised when Cathi wrote to let me know that she was out of spice. Oh well. So I wrote back and said to pick something to go with the Daffodil and surprise me. Lo and behold, she picked this stunning ruby red. Can't wait to get my fingers on that fiber today.

And not only are they gorgeous, but I opened the bag so I could fondle the fiber and the scent that wafted out of the package was simply divine. Clean and sweet. I don't know what she uses to wash her fibers, but it's heavenly. The scent was even in the yarn. Working on the fiber and the yarn is going to be yummy indeed.

Trust me. Get fingers over to www.stonebarnfibers.com and get yourself some sock yarn and some fiber. The computer monitor does NOT do justice for her handpainted fiber and yarn. Her sense of color is exquisite and the yarn is to-die-for. Bouncy and soft and unbelievable. Picking one over another is difficult and there isn't a bad mix in the bunch. Try one skein of yarn and you'll be tearing your hair out to simply order two of each. (Yes, you do need two skeins to make a pair unless you make socks without cuffs.)

A few months ago, my mom had ordered a dozen colors, two skeins of each. I balled them all for her and put each colorway into a qt. ziploc bag. Then put all the bags into one big brown paper bag. She's had more fun simply reaching into the paper bag and taking out whatever ziploc comes to hand. Each one is a new surprise and keeps her knitting happily on new socks. I don't think she's halfway through her stash and is already itching to buy some more because there's so much pleasure in the surprise she has each time she reaches in for a new project.

Yup, I definitely need me one of those big brown paper bags...

Okay, off to do fundraising tallies and get rid of those white roots.... er, not in that order. Do roots first so I can hop in shower and then go play with a calculator for a few hours. Then home for laundry and finally the ability to play with my new fiber while the machines do their thing.

I'll get pics up this week when I can make sure youngest daughter is stashed in her room with phone to ear and distracted from seeing her Christmas present.

Textured Argyle and more...

Here it is. The infamous Textured Argyle. I haven't had a lot of time to work on it (well, duh, since you still have needles sticking out of it! ) but I'd promised the pics last week. Oops...

• I don't know if you can tell in the pic, but the first row of diamonds (with the red twisted with a blue) are purled rows, then the dark red (believe it or not with a green) is stockinette st, then the yellowish diamonds are again purled and so forth. Each section is offset by small one stitch cables. This is how the diamond definition is set up.

• I did that to the bottom of the cuff and then simple straight stockinette for the rest of the sock with a short row heel. Let me see if I can get that other pic to upload here also. Woohoo! Yup, I can upload. Now I have to learn how to set them where I want them and I'll be ready to roll. Youngest daughter promised me that she'd help me do that, but she's still in bed. So maybe next time.... Why? Because I'll have more pics to upload.

• Why again? New paragraph, that's why... I finished the MIL's Wool Peddler's Shawl. I got my order from Knitpicks last Saturday. I can't tell you how excited I was to come home and find that box sitting on top of my mailbox. So I whipped it open, checked out my yarn and put together my new Options interchangeable set of cables. Put together my size 7 tips on a 24" cable and cast on Saturday night. It's funny because I thought the garter stitch beginning would be SO simple. Well, it took me 3 tries to keep that center increase row both centered and straight. But once I got the hang, yes, it whipped up pretty darned fast.

• Now, my MIL is tall. She's 5'10" or thereabouts, so I did add one more row to the lace bottom section. And, boy, that was slow knitting cuz you're working about 300 sts in each row. But I also experimented some and I can now knit "continental" even faster than I can knit my good ole 30-yrs-of-experience American. It took a while to get somewhat easy on the purling, though. That one slowed me down a lot because the first row I tried purling, I got it backwards so all the sts twisted when I went to knit. So I knitted the next row through the back and then regrouped. Took a while, but I figured it out and can now purl in the continental manner a bit faster than molasses...

• Anyway, so I got all excited. One shawl down and 9 whole weeks before.... Oh, wait! I have to reveal two other things during the making of this shawl. I've written to Knitpicks because I can't believe it, but my cable pulled right out of the connector. Luckily, I had just knitted my last row and only had to cast off, but I went to turn the work and BOOM! I'm sitting there with my knitting in my lap and my needle in my hand. Thank goodness it was the last row and I didn't have to try to pick up 300+ stitches. So I pushed all the stitches together on the good end and continued to cast off. Whic leads me to another thing I learned.

• New paragraph... I don't know about you, but my cast off stitches are never in tension with the rest of my work. They're either too loose or too tight. And the ends never lay flat. They either pull or ripple. Yech! Yeah, yeah, everyone tells you to cast off _loosely_. That never works for me. It's still different than everything else. So I tried something new.

• Please note that this will only work if you work this last row on a cable needle and you'll see why. I knit that last row and then moved back to the beginning of same row. IOW, I haven't turned my work at all. I simply move from the left side where my yarn leader is dangling back to the right side where I began that row. Then I simply slipped my first two stitches to the right needle and slipped the first stitch over the second. Slip another stitch from the left needle and pass the "first" slipped stitch over the new one. Etc, etc. Knitting is already done. You're just passing the stitches for the bind off. End result? That edge lay flat and true like never before. Not too loose. Not too tight. Perfectly in sync with every other row I'd knitted.

• Seriously, give it a try. You'll be surprised.

• Okay, next note. I pulled out the swift and ball winder yesterday and balled up the lace weight merino and alpaca skeins I'd bought for the Aunt-In-Law's shawl. Funny, when you put the balls next to each other, it's not that pretty. But start casting on and the alpaca in Moss Heather adds a really nice subtle contrast to the darker Lost Lake Heather in merino.

• Anyway, I get upstairs last night and begin to cast on. Yarn leader is too short for 240 sts. I tear back and cast on again. Yarn leader is too short by about 10 sts. So I tear out and cast on a third time and this thing is looking mighty short. 240 sts or did Cheryle Oberle mean 340? I pull out the book again and look. Yup, 240 sts. Problem is that the yarn is supped to be DK weight and not fingering as I'd read (about 5 times). Actually, I think my problem is that I kept looking at so many different patterns that I forgot what yarn was needed for which project... So here I am with yarn that can't be used for the pattern I want or, if I switch to another pattern, I don't have enough yarn to complete it. I was thinking of switching to the Bird's Nest Shawl, but I only have half the yarn to complete it. I'll figure that one out and keep you posted.

• In the meantime, I can start a pair of fingerless mitts to replace the ones that Shelby doesn't have anymore. I don't want to say that she lost them or accuse someone of stealing them. I think it was more a combination of both. She put them down and forgot to grab them and they were gone before she could retrace her steps. Course, as I told her in no uncertain terms, the design is 100% unique. So if she sees someone wearing them, I expect her to run them to ground and tackle them.... LOL!

• Now, before I interrupted myself, I was about to say that, as of this Tuesday, we have nine (count them, NINE!!!!) weeks to Christmas. At least three projects in the hopper to be completed prior to then. And I simply have to figure out something for the Hubby. He keeps complaining that his feet get cold, so I want to make him a pair of socks. I have a reason now for him not to be suspicious. My mom wants to make a pair for my brother and, considering he's in North Carolina, it's a bit difficult to measure his foot. But my DH's foot is a bit longer and a bit bigger than my brother's. So if I measure Mark's foot and subtract a quarter inch in length and a half inch in diameter, it should work. And I'll have Mark's measurements also. Maybe that's what I could use that merino and alpaca for. The merino would add memory and "bounce" and the alpaca will add warmth. And the two shades of very subtle green will be nice and conservative compared to my socks in loud parrot and "fire"...

• It's a thought.

• Have a wonderful week! Nine and counting... Yikes!

Fingerless Mitts

Before I get into things, let me begin with an apology. I seem to have lost my ability to paragraph correctly, so rather than have all of my paragraphs run into each other like a multi-car wreck, I'm bulletting all the paragraphs to keep them separate. That said....

• Let's start with a picture. I finally got one. The main school colors are navy blue and gold, so that's the main part that goes over the hand. That navy "blob" is a thumb gusset. I was going to keep it in pattern, but it was so small a piece, I simply couldn't wrap my head around how to work the math to keep it in pattern. So... blue. Then I was worried about how the end at the fingers would roll back on itself because it's double-stranded, so I just finished it with a braid and then blocked to keep it straight. Funny, I've never owned a set of lace blockers in my life, so I just took the needles that I'd used to knit the mitts and laced them through each side to block it flat. Now, I doubt that would work for a large piece like a shawl, but it worked beautifully for the mitts.

• Now, here's the kicker. I gave Shelby the mitts on Wednesday morning because she needed them for last night's Midnight Madness. Well, she's searched high and low and can't find them for the life of her... Argh! I'm sure she feels really bad, but she figures she probably took them out of her messenger bag to grab something and then forgot to put them back. We checked with Lost & Found on campus, but, yup, they're gone. The good news is that, I don't know why, but I'm not mad. I think it's because there were a few things I would have changed once it was all done and I looked at the total overall effect. Now I have a chance to do just that. I'll have to order more yarn to accomplish this goal, but I'm going to do it and make her another pair.

• I also have plans to make a pair for youngest daughter. You know the one... she sits by the hour with a phone superglued to her head and IM'ing on the laptop simultaneously. Other than cleaning the litterbox twice a week, she can barely manage to make soup for her Dad on the nights I work, but for some reason I'll make her a pair of mitts. She deserves a smack instead of a present, but I'm WAY too nice for the good of both of us. My one consolation is that I know -- I mean, I KNOW!!!! -- some day she'll have a daughter just like her... Payback's a bitch and she'll get hers... LOL!

• Now for the good news. Yarn has arrived for the two shawls I'm making for Christmas. One a lovely rich burgundy called "hollyberry" from Knitpicks for the MIL. This one will become the Wool Peddler's Shawl. The other two yarns are both lace weight, but I'll combine them to make the Sarah Blanche shawl for the aunt-in-law. Two shades of green that will create almost a tweed effect, but one of them is alpaca, so that will add some wonderful warmness that straight merino might not with such a "holey" shawl. I want to do the Sarah Blanche because it's a dropped stitch garter and years ago I made a crocheted "broomstick lace" afghan for Aunt Lois and she loved it. This is almost the same effect, so they will match in a very strange and weird sense.

• Oh, and I have to mention. I took the pic from above of the mitts sitting on the stool for my Kromski because the wood is deep and rich and would blend into the dark background so the mitts would really stand out. I did get a complaint from my Mom that the other few pics I'd uploaded were way too busy with background, etc. So I figured just the stool. And I aimed my Ott light at it so the colors would show true (another problem I have in my house). Damn if it didn't work out well.

• I have to take a pic of the Textured Argyle sock. I'm almost done with the first and the cuff came out really nice. Hopefully, I can get that today and upload tomorrow. I can place one pic, but I have trouble if I'm uploading more than one. They tend to bunch up. I asked youngest daughter about that and she said, "Oh, you just type in blah, blah, blah, wakka, wakka". huh? I just smiled and said she could stay off the phone long enough to help....