A Few Sheep Shy of a Farm

Finished the first hat for the Afghan for Afgan’s drive last night, working on a second one . . . .

Updated the links section, rearraged heading and added a “few” new links . . . check them out!

More updates tomorrow.

Monday

I’ve just realized why my stash has been growing and my WIP list getting longer . . . . I’m trapped at my desk all day where I can’t really do any knitting but I can shop for yarns and dream up new projects when I get bored or otherwise fidgety sitting here . . . and I get fidgety a lot!

I just heard from M and from Clara . . . M is going to the KR Retreat!!!!! This is very exciting! To get to go at all, and to get to meet everyone is great, but to have a friend to travel with and to share it all with is even better!

I’ve moved a few more projects into the Finished Object File and added some new WIPS or soon to be projects to that list . . . I’ve got a lot of knitting to do between now and the end of the year and I’m really not sure how I’ll manage to get it all done! Especially when there is so much going on!!! All this review of projects has also made me realize that I really need to spend some quality time with my camera asap! I have an aweful lot of pictures of half-completed projects next to listings for things that are finished and some that don’t even have pictures yet . . . . I’ll see what I can do about that in the next few days . . .

Right, well back to the drawing board.

Sunday night . . . .

I hate when the weekend is over!

just a quick post for tonight, almost time for bed . . . . I had taken Friday off in the hopes of getting some extra knitting and spinning done this weekend, but alas, it was not to be.

We had dinner plans with Friends Friday night, more Friends coming for Brunch on Saturday, a surprise party to go to on Saturday night and breakfast plans with more Friends on Sunday morning! So I spent a good part of Friday cleaning and preppring for Saturday . . . and then most of the weekend on the go. Oh well.

I finished the Dune Scarf the other day and knit one in a Collinette Chenille after that. Not terribly complicated but they are pretty. Both are destined for the holiday gift pile. I actually have a plastic bin in with the fiber stash that is to be filled with holiday gifts this year . . . .we’ll see just how far I actually get!

Oh, I’m finally, after 2 years of planning, going to be getting my own room for fiber stuff!!!! How exciting is that!?!?!?!?! DH has commissioned a friends BIL to build the “shed” behind the house that he has been talking about for the past two years. This shed has turned into a 20 x 20 barn with 2 floors! The first floor will house things like the lawn mower but will mostly be DH’s woodworking shop (he plans to build our new kitchen cabinets) the second floor with have an office where the desk, computer and filing cabinets that currently occupy the front porch of our apartment will go, and the rest of the 2nd floor will be additional storage space so that we can stop paying for a space elsewhere . . . for off-season clothes, childhood things and other treasures. So once the desk etc. has migrated to the barn, the porch room willl be remodelled into my workspace!!! I plan to move my sewing table and machine out here and possibly get another loveseat or something for comfey seating. The shelves that have all the “office supplies” will be emptied and become home to my knitting books and other tools and there will even be room for a basket of WIPS! My stash is just on the other side of the door in the hall under the stairs so very easily accessible. And there should be enough room for my wheel to actually stay set up once in a while when I really want to work on something! And it means not having as much of my clutter in the living room . . . plus the current junk room is going to be turned into a dining room! This is going to be like having a whole new apartment, especially after the rearranging that was done a few weeks ago! Okay can you tell I’m excited about this?

Oh, almost forgot! I got my confirmation email from Clara . . . I’m going to the KR Retreat in November!!!!! I can’t wait to meet everyone, this is going to be so much fun!!!!!!

Okay, more tomorrow - Good night everyone!

The Purple Shawl is DONE!!!!

I haven’t been this excited about finishing something in a long time!!! First, this is the biggest project I’ve done to date . . . esp. when you factor in that I had knit 6 skeins worth of a wider shawl while under the (mistaken) assumption that I had 8 skeins in the closet. I then debated whether to keep it as a lap blanket for the couch, give it away as a baby gift (It really is the wrong yarn for that) or reknit. I finally decided I really did want it as a shawl so I reknit the whole thing. I made it about a 1/3 less in width and that gave me just enough yarn. This was something I actually started last fall, put away for a few months and then worked on slowly for the past 6 months or so. It is such a relief to have it be finished with it! Actually, I’m glad I finished while the weather was warm, since now (after I block it tonight) I can pack it away for a few months (its quite heavy, made from a bulky yarn) and take it out in the fall when I will be happy to have it and not sick of it like I am right now!

Now that the needles are free, I cast on a scarf in Trendsetter’s Dune this morning. The yarn is a little tough to work with as the mohair keeps catching and the strands are very loosely plied so I really do have to pay attention . . . but I’m working on a simple yo, k2tog lace scarf to go in the holiday gift box. I’ve been dying to play with this yarn for a while now (I have enough for 2 scarves and 3 shawls) so this is the practice to get the hang of it before starting a shawl. I’m working on a size 10.5 needle but I’m thinking I could probably even knit it on a bigger one. Maybe I’ll do the other scarf on the 15 or 17 I have and compare them before deciding how to do the shawls . . . The fun part is that this is only 21 st. and a 4 row pattern repeat so it is going rather quickly, I already have 4 inches of it done! I love instant gratification projects!!!

I haven’t done any spinning for days now. I’m having some of the girls over on Thursday so I might get to do some then. I really need to get back to work on that raw jacob I started. I’d like to get that done and by mid August anyway . . .

Off-topic

I just finished reading an article from today’s New York Times about what is happening to the women of Iraq. I honestly don’t know whether I’m more disgusted by the fact that in this day and age such attrocities can happen, by the way women who have been through this type of abuse are treated by the system, or the fact that their own families often beat or even kill them for being kidnapped and raped! This kind of thing makes me so mad I can barely even type!!! It also leaves me with a strong dislike for the male species!!! These poor women, the way things are there it is like being raped three times over! The article mentions a 9-yr. old girl that was abducted and raped, her family didn’t seek medical attention for her until she had been bleeding for a while and they couldn’t get it to stop, and with the exception of her older sister, her family members now beat her daily because she was attacked! And forget about the poor thing getting any kind of counciling . . .she’s lucky her sister was able to stop them from killing her! Okay, this has offically put me in an “all men are pigs” mood, good thing the boss (male) is away and that DH works tonight!

I really, really wish there was something I could do to help the women of Iraq. I wish we could get them some self-defense training or mace or a new government where they would be safe . . . anyone have any ideas of what we could do? Are there any groups out there trying to help them? None were mentioned in the article and I’m not sure where to look, anyone?

Okay, now that I’m totally pissed off I’m going to try to do some filing! Wish me luck.

This was fun, try it:

Which HP Kid Are You?

Well, it was another crazy weekend! I did managed to get just a little bit of knitting done though.

I did a few more rows of the purple shawl and its starting to look like it might even get finished sometime this century! Won’t that be a relief! Of course it will be several months from now before it is really cool enough to use it . . . but at least it will be ready . . . Oh, and I need those needles for another project . . . .

I also decided that the off white Wildflower tank top is going to have a cable panel up the front of it. So I got out the Aran Stitch dictionary and swatched up some cables! I haven’t done a whole lot with cables yet and I certainly haven’t designed anything that had to fit a certain way with them yet . . . so this is going to be a challenge! I chose a v-shaped cable pattern for the center that works on a 16 row repeat and I’m putting 2 plainer cables (8 row repeat) to either side of it with a reverse st. st. background in between them. I did 2 repeats of the center panel (which is 4 repeats of the side cables) and I tossed it in the wash since that is what I plan to do with the top, given the yarn. And I’ve heard that cotton tends to shrink so I want to see what happens to this under “normal” wash conditions. Once I see how much space its going to take then I can start figuring out the rest of it. I even hope to write up the pattern as a I go . . . who knows maybe I’ll even send it to Knitty?

Oh, the lanolin experiment is a failure : ( All I got was a barrel full of sheepy smelling water! I’m wondering if what I need to do is try it in less water and cook it down so that the water is gone? I really wish I could find directions some where for doing this but so far I haven’t found anything useful! Guess this qualifies in the “lost knowledge” category! Oh well, I’ve got lots more wool so I guess I can keep trying!

The silkworms are almost done laying their eggs, there are only a few moths left alive at this point. Then its off to the fridge to wait for next year . . . .

The bunnies got a major brushing, followed by some serious plucking this weekend! They were starting to blow their coats anyway and although I’d rather the fiber was a bit longer for spinning purposes, it just seemed kinder to take it out of them before we get any more 90 degree days! They did sit still a bit better this time around, but my hands were cramping by the time I finished the second one. Next time they are getting done one at a time with a day off in between! Both at once is just way too much! I also shoveled out under their hutch yesterday, I did it with an old fashioned pitch fork and let me tell you, not the right tool! I’m going to buy myself a nice muck fork next time I’m picking up more grain and hay, the right tool just makes the job so much easier!

I’m also starting to plan the Christmas knitting. Obviously, I can’t go into too much detail here (some family and friends do read this . . .) but lets just say I’d better hurry up and get started!

So far on my list are:

1 pair of Gloves (never done gloves before!)

5 pairs of socks (definitely doing the 2×2 method)

2 hats

2 pairs of mittens

3 shawls (lacey with mohair/novelty yarns)

4 lacey scarves

Hmm, looking at this list, I probably should have started in January!!!! I’ve just got to learn to knit faster!!!!

well, off to do some filing! Have a happy Monday!