Knitting Obsession

Yay birthday goodness!

Two weekends ago, Maryland Sheep and Wool happened. As usual, it fell on my birthday weekend. This year, Ravelry helped me make my plans. My fellow helpers and I decided to have a slumber party and 10 people total ended up staying in my (ONE BATHROOM) apartment. It was so much fun! I have lots of picture goodness but they are not on this computer....so hopefully more posts to come.

(photo by Mary-Heather)

It was enough for me that so many of my friends came to stay with me, but then they got all sneaky on me and made me a blankie. Everyone made squares and it is being seamed by Jess and I love it so much.

It really hit me hard-I got very emotional and it was a wonderful feeling. Later on at the Ravelry party people kept bringing me gin and tonics so that didn't hurt the wonderful feeling. Then everyone including Jess and Casey and Mary-Heather sang me Happy Birthday and I cried again. Oof! Quell embarrassing.

(picture by Mary-Heather). That's Aimee head-butting me, much like Brynn head-butts me. My girls GET me, you know? I love them like they love me.

Long time no see

Hi! Wow, it has been a long time since I've blogged. I've been concentrating on my health (joined a gym and got a personal trainer and nutritionist) and that has taken up what little time is left over from the time suck of Ravelry. I'm a Helper there, along with a bunch of other wonderful women,  to help take the burden off the lone coder who is developing the site. The site is growing by leaps and bounds every day and it's amazing to watch. The organization of my stash alone has been great. The site developers are planning an Open House in January, since the site won't be out of beta for a while. It will be a chance for some of you to see what I've been yakking about for months (hi Mom!).

Needles-wise, I am slogging through Christmas knitting, and have one more gift to complete. It shouldn't be a problem, and I'll post those projects after Christmas. As soon as I finish Christmas stuff, I can get back to Jeanie from the most recent Knitty, which is entrancing. I'm using this gorgeous stuff:

which is Dream in Color Smooshy Sock in Black Parade, and I lurve it. I love the depth of this colorway. It is a little challenging to knit at night though! I need brighter light bulbs, I think.

My other WIP that is on hold till Christmas knitting is over is my first Clapotis, which I started to stave off my longing for Jeanie.

Lorna's Laces Lion and Lamb in Gold Hill. Mmmmmm soft.

The kitties are doing well....and here is Tootsie, snoring on the scraps from one of my Christmas gifts.

She is so loud....wakes me up sometimes. Chloe has arthritis, so she is on a multivitamin with glucosamine. She is not very enthusiastic about her chewable tablets. I have to hide them in her food and bribe her with Greenies, and she still eats her way around the pieces. She is as active as ever, so she can't be in too much pain.

I did make it to Rhinebeck, and it was amazing. I drove up with two good friends from Ravelry, (bunnysquirrel and booksherpa) and we had a blast.

It was beautiful, and we met Casey and Jess from Ravelry, a whole lot of other Ravelers, and the party was so much fun. Bob guarded our car, along with bunnysquirrel Jess's animals.

We were sorry to come home.

I'm gonna try hard to blog more...a friend suggested following WIP Wednesday and Yarn Pr0n Fridays and I may try that. I also have been spinning on Katarina off and on (more off while trying to get through the Xmas stuff) and want to blog that too, as I am spinning stuff that looks less like garbage and more like string.

I am so far behind on my blogs that Google Reader refuses to count above 1000. I am a little (a lot) ashamed about it and need to remember to do the thing where you can save up a bunch of posts to read off line while I am in PA for Christmas. That will help me catch up though I won't be able to comment. But know that I am thinking of all of my friends and hoping you are having a safe and blessed holiday season.

Bad Blogger Alert!

This is me.

Highly pixellated b/c it's an avatar picture and I can't handle taking another one. I'm a square on Saturday at Rhinebeck and I think I'll wear the Noro scarf above for indentification purposes. My hair will likely be in my face too. It's often there. I'm also going to have a Blogger Bingo T shirt on and my teardrop bag has lots of buttons including a Ravelry ribbon and a Blogger Bingo button. I'll be there with other squares/players if that helps....I was going to be wearing Kerry but Kerry is in a time out in my knitting bag as I could NOT finish the never ending sleeves in time. Full disclosure-I really started the sleeves about a week ago. I'll bring the sleeves with me though! Maybe I'll finish it in NY.

Ok! Who else is going? I know a couple of you are...but let me know for sure! Saturday, 12 noon, Ravelry meetup. I'll be there~ and will be at the Ravelry party and likely the Morehouse Merino party. See some of you then!

Yet Another Single Sock

Here is yet another single sock...socks are still very comforting, and they have been small and easy to complete.
   
This is the Twisted Flower sock, pattern by Cookie A. I am using Dream In Color Smooshy Sock in Petal Shower, purchased from the Loopy Ewe, and a lovely yarn. The pattern is enchanting and the charts are very easy to follow...even though it looks intimidating. I really like the way the pattern goes down the heel too...I need to find clogs that I can wear without killing myself to show them off.

I have been saving my spare change, and selling off a bunch of my yarn, in order to be able to buy a used spinning wheel. I managed to save it all up (it's amazing how fast spare change adds up) and sold a lot of sock yarn that I wasn't going to use...I am too enchanted with my handpainted sock yarn collection. I also haven't bought yarn in a while, and the only new yarn that has come into the house has been from sock clubs that I paid for a while ago. This is all going to make my mom stick her tongue out at me and say "Nyah, nyah, nyah" since I was able to save some money. And I have knitted up quite a few pretty socks from my stash! I'll be picking up the wheel this weekend and will be sure to post pictures.

I also realized that I could go to Rhinebeck after all, though my budget will be curtailed. I am looking forward to it! I may bring my wheel!

sheep, sheep, sheep, and some wool

Warning! Lots of pictures ahead!
Ooh, I had fun last weekend. Saturday was my annual bday blowout and Sunday...

Look at that face! How can anyone resist?

This was my second Maryland Sheep and Wool. My first was in 2005 when I had been knitting for about 6 months. I didn't quite get what I was seeing then. But I got it this year, don't worry!

I had a lot of fun shopping for the prizes for the contest last week.

I was hoping to mail these out tomorrow, but I forgot the packing materials in my car today. So I will be mailing them on Thursday or Friday via USPS. I hope I was able to pick things out that are well suited to the recipients!
I actually didn't pick up too much for myself...there was one thing that I really wanted to get, and I got it...

A Bosworth Mini spindle, complete with tips and tricks from Sheila Bosworth herself. Be still my heart! It's made of Paduak and it spins beautifully, despite my clumsy hands. The fiber behind it is all BFL  which I have found to be really easy to spin. However I am still so bad at drafting.

Inconsistent, falling apart in places, nubs and slebs everywhere...grr! Isn't this supposed to be meditative and relaxing? I did get to try out a wheel for a second, a Kromski Minstrel, and I really liked that although it does seem there is a lot more going on. I'm taking a class in spinning on May 20th at Cloverhill and I hope to learn some good tips that I can take home to the spindle as well (speaking of Cloverhill, my B bought a gift certificate to there for me for my birthday...smart boy...and as he was spelling out my last name, they said "OH, yes. We know her." Scary? Or amusing? I feel amusing. I think B thought scary).
Check these cute sheep out...the one has some mighty scary horns.

And mama and babe, sleeping...

At least mama was sleeping. Babe was making an awful lot of noise. I also picked up the yarn I am going to use for my sockpalooooza pal:

Scarlet Fleece, Silk and Ivory in "olives and pimentos." This is a 50% merino, 50% silk blend and I will have a hard time giving it up. I am now trying to decide between patterns: Japanese Feather, Fluted Banister, and River Rapids (that link is a .pdf). Any thoughts?

Oh....you know, I just realized. I wasn't quite finished confessing showing off telling you about my relatively recent handpainted sock yarn acquisitions. These lovely ladies came a couple weeks ago.

Sweet Georgia superwash sock in "Spark,""Rusted,""Momiji," and "Snapdragon."

STR in "Fire on the Mountain." Seacoast Panda in "Ambergris." C*EYE*BER Fiber Merino/tencel in "Blood Orange." STR in "Pink Granite." Don't mind Brynn's tail there.

Claudia Handpainted in "Pistachio" and "Jill's Pinks."
The "Fire on the Mountain" deserves its own picture.

And lookie what my mum went and sent me for the bday.

I love this scale. It's a lot more accurate than the 1980s era postage stamp scale I've been using. Also, this!

Drool, drool. I think that's that. The only knitting going on is some lone socks. I have three individual socks waiting for mates and I am determined to finish those before I start anything new.