Can't Put My Finger On It

I can't explain why but whenever I see this guy I just want to slap the shit out of him.

Taking the Long Way

I started the Tulips Cardigan as a quick diversion. It was a chance to use my handspun and knit a small, simple project. I ran out of yarn. So instead of finishing the sweater last night I had to make more yarn. I dug around a little bit in my office and came up with leftover Dazzle yarn and this merino/tencel that I spun up two years ago and have never had a clue what to do with. I took my newly acquired cabled yarn skill from Madrona and set to work. I added extra twist to the two finished yarns then plied them together. The result is not great. Dazzle was a little underspun and the merino/tencel is a little overspun. They don't hold together well as a cohesive yarn. Oh well, too bad! I used it anyway for the bottom edging.



I used a second class sample three-ply skein to start the first arm. The color works pretty well with the rest of the sweater but it's going to get a ugly by the second sleeve I fear when all those orange/reds start coming into play. Oh well, too bad!

Here, I'll distract you from my ugly sweater with a picture of my adorable, but now enormous, dog.

At Least I'm Consistent

I've been working pretty diligently on my Noro shawl. It's not done yet but I'm getting there.

I took a break and went to the Sewing Expo in Puyallup yesterday with Amanda. It was okay. There was a lot more machine embroidery and garment sewing than I had hoped. I bought a few fat quarters of 30s reproductions for my Shadow Star quilt. It got me thinking about my many languishing quilt projects. When I got home I got back to work on my Four Square.



I got it up on the "design wall" (aka large piece of cheap felt) and arranged all my squares. I'm in the middle of sewing on all the sashing. I bought my border fabrics a few weeks ago. I love them.



I love them.

Then I decided to wind some yarn for my Giant Latvian Mitten Cardigan. It's next on my list as soon as I finish the shawl, and Tangles Yoke, and my gloves, and my baby sweater...



Completely matches my Four Square.

A Moment in the Sun

The sun it out! And I'm home! I can finally take some pictures!


This is my Tulip Cardigan. The pattern is from Dream in Color and the yarn is some of my handspun from class samples from Madrona last year.


My progress on the Noro shawl. I got the pattern written up and we had our first class today. I have two weeks until the next class to get it done.


I got this skein of Rare Gems Socks That Rock at Madrona. I was trying to pick a Raven colorway and couldn't decide. They were all so dark I couldn't picture knitting with them. This one of a kind skein caught my eye instead.


These indigo-dyed skeins of sock yarn are from Butternut Woolens. Incredibly pretty, rich color.


A hand-painted skein from Heidi at The Artful Ewe. So my colors.


A pile of beautiful spinning fiber from Judith's classes. This is yak/merino and Shetland.

And now it's raining. With hail??

Wait...What?

I'm teaching a class tomorrow. If you had asked me on Wednesday which class I am teaching I would have told you it's an adult sweater class which I have taught many times. I would also have been wrong. Instead, I'm teaching a class on a shawl made with Noro sock yarn which I have never taught before based on a pattern I designed but have not finished knitting. This little neglected thing. Oh, and I haven't written the pattern yet. Time to freak out!

Thursdays are for What the Hell is This?

Big Ass Knits have made it to fashion week in Milan!





And work it.



It seems BAK only repel women's pants. The key is to wear men's pants.



Cheer up, sweetie, it's almost over.

Finishing up with the perfect little number for the blushing bride.



Tube socks and high heeled sneakers are a must.

Thanks to reader Chloe for letting me know BAK had touched down in Italy.

If You Give a Knitter a...

I'm a scattered mess right now. I don't have any clean clothes. I can't focus. My younger son loves all the Laura Numeroff books about giving animals one thing and they get distracted and want something else and so on and so on. Last night I got up to get something from my office. I don't remember what because when I got there I saw some handspun and remembered that I wanted to knit the Tulips cardigan with it. I grabbed it and started winding the yarn. I cast on for the sweater and then saw some other yarn that I wanted to wind. So I stopped wound the second skein of yarn and started knitting with that. Two new projects started in a span of two minutes. It's all so silly because I'm so close to finishing my gloves.

Prairie Mitts

Pattern: Prairie Handwarmers by Nancy Bush (class handout)
Yarn: Buffalo Gals Bison/Merino (about 2/3 skein)
Needles: US3s
Notes: Very basic garter stitch mitts with a buttonhole thumb. The yarn is so toasty I can barely wear them. But so soft and lovely.

San Diego

We weren't really in San Diego. We stayed at a time share (my in-laws) up in Oceanside. Our first day we went to Balboa Park and did some of the museums. We also walked through the palm garden.



We tried to go to Legoland on Wednesday. It was raining. They told us at the gate that the park would close if it started raining any harder. And they do not issue refunds or rain checks! The guy at the ticket booth suggested we get a shopper's pass. They take am imprint of your credit card and you get one hour to look around. If you stay past the hour they charge your card.

There were bison.



It would be difficult to spin.

The rain showed off all the cobwebs in this howling wolf's mouth.



We left and went to the zoo.

I love the bristly, curly hair on these hogs' noses.



Fiber animals! Guanacos.



And the San Diego Zoo money shot. Adorable panda munching bamboo.



On Thursday the rain stopped and we got a full day of play at Legoland.
Friday it rained again and we just hung out.
Saturday we went to SeaWorld.




It's a little hard to see in the last shot but that's a sea otter sitting on a tub of ice.

Most of February in One Post

Madrona was great.

I took a handcoverings class with Nancy Bush and Judith MacKenzie McCuin. We made gloves from Shetland then spun a yarn to match.

We spun bison then got to knit a pair of mitts with Buffalo Gals Bison/Merino. My pair is done but I haven't had a chance to get a good photo.

Last September I blamed my lack of a decent photo of Stephanie on her height. This year she stood on a freaking chair and I still couldn't get a decent shot. Time for a new camera.

(She's trying to show everyone how she holds knits so quickly.)
She was wearing her Kauni.

So was Ruth Sorensen, Naomi, Melinda, Shelly, Karen and Ellen. I asked to take a group photo and everyone handed me their cameras. I managed to take about ten pictures without dropping anyone's camera.
I took Janine Bajus's Color in Fair Isle class. Her are my yarns to swatch and my inspiration photo.


Okay, I'll do my vacation in another post.

Home

Tired. Smelly. Brain-dead.

Saw SeaWorld

So cheesy. I thought I would go insane from all the piped in music. And there was a cheerleading competition going on so we were surrounded by young girls covered in glitter and hair extensions. Older son enjoyed sitting in the "soak zone" for Shamu. Younger son enjoyed the sea lion and otter show. I enjoyed the moment at the top of the water flume/roller coaster when younger son realized what was about to happen and let out a very small but resigned, "oh no."



Video courtesy of You Tube. I was too busy gripping the handle and my purse and praying for the ride to end to capture my own ride experience.