A Few Sheep Shy of a Farm

Knitting, knitting and more knitting . . . .

Let’s check in on some of the on going knitting projects, shall we?

First up is Fern.  I’ve been knitting the front and back at the same time so that I only have to work through all the charts once.  I’ve only done about rows since I picked it up again but I’m hoping to work on it for about an hour each night now. At least that is the goal.

Baby Sweaters – nothing to report really. I did a couple of rows on one but I’m still way behind on the baby sweater gifts.

Lacey Prairie Shawl – Its a little squashed since its on a shortish needle but I have been working on this one lately and hope to finish it off in the next couple of weeks. Ideally, it will be done and blocked before the weather gets chilly.

Prairie Blanket has stalled out at 24 inches.  Since I wound up giving a different gift to the child I started this for I’m considering making it longer than the recommended size and using it for Mimmo for his bed. He’s going to need a new bigger blanket this fall when the weather gets cold as he’s gotten too long for most of the ones he had.  Here is a detail shot of the eding:

Megan’s Sweater – I’ve actually sewn the bottom but I need to put some sort of an edging and work an I-cord tie for it but other than that its finished.  I’m going to write up the pattern for IY and work a smaller one for her little sister . . . though I may do her’s just a little different so they won’t be entirely identical. We’ll see.

Knitting for Greensboro

 These are the squares the ladies from the Monday night knitting group made to send to Laurie for the Greensboro KS blankets she’s putting together.  As a group we managed to come up with 13 squares and I dropped them in the mail earlier today. She mentions on her blog that she doesn’t get a chance to confirm that packages have arrived so I’ve included a SASE postcard and a note asking her to drop it in the mail.  That way we’ll know when they have arrived. 

Oh, and in case your wondering, I made the 3 red ones . . .

Swaps

I want to say “Hi” to my two swap buddies, [Kena] from the Hand Dyed Yarn Swap and “Victoria” from the Hogwarts Sock Swap 2.  I’m currently working on both of your packages . . . and might even post a peak in a few days. . .  I love swaps, they are so much fun!

Stash enhancement and craft projects

I know I don’t need any more yarn . . . but look what I got the other day:

More sock yarn . . . everyone’s been talking about the Tofutsies so I wanted to give it a try . . . I’m going to come up with another pattern for IY using this but I haven’t actually started it yet . . . and the Louisa Harding Kimono Angora is pricier than most of what I tend to buy but I was having a very stressful day and really needed deserved a treat so this is going to become my new fall scarf . . .

I’ve also gone through the entire shop and personal stash and reorganized it recently.  I’d take a picture, but its just too frightening.  Though not as bad as some I’ve seen lately.

And just because I haven’t had enough to do lately, I’ve been making these:

I finally sent another note to the KnitUFO Group.  I hadn’t been in touch with them for a while, partly because I’ve been busy and partly because I just haven’t been working on the UFOs!

Farm and Home updates

Bathroom report – not much to say, currently without any fixtures as Dom has put some sort of bonding agent on the floor in preparation for putting the “Self-leveling” concrete down to finish the foundation of the floor.  And the nephew is coming by tomorrow to look at the pipes that need to be temporarily moved to fix the floor joists that the previous contractors cut. 

Chickens

They are growing fast now. The smallest is about 3 oz and the largest is 7.5 oz. Here are a few photos:

This is the smallest one. We aren’t entirely sure what it is but think it might be Dom’s Sicilian Buttercup Rooster . . . looks like we’ll have to wait and see.

The black and white one with the yellow head is the one we thought was the Buttercup but now I think it might be the extra one they throw in and I think it may be a Dominique . . .maybe.

This is the big one.  I think its an Aracauna (Easter Egger).

This is one of the Speckled Sussex hens

This is “Buddy”. Yes, she has a name.  She has figured out how to work the system and has buddied up to the little guy and earned herself permanent resident status.  Smart little girl.  We believe her to be a Black Australope. 

This is one of the white rocks.  A few of these are staying but some of the 10 are only here temporarily.

This is one of the two I believe to be the Barred Rocks.  If it is then its one of my laying hens. 

Okay, thats all for now. 

Last I heard, which was a few days ago now, Gram was still plugging along. Its been a few days now since we’ve seen her. I may stop in tomorrow afternoon but I’m not sure yet.

The baby has a little cold. Nothing serious, just a bit stuffy/runny and enough to make him a touch on the cranky side. We’re planning to go to playgroup in the morning but may cancel if he’s miserable. We haven’t been for a few weeks now so we’d both really like to go but I don’t want to take him if he’s too sick. If we go, we may stop on the way back, esp. since it really is on the way back, to see how Gram is doing.

Knitting wise I’m still sort of holding off from working on my “real” projects for now. I want to go back to them, and may soon since this isn’t all happening like we thought it would. I’d really like to be making progress on Fern. I miss working on her and had hoped to keep some momentium so Fern wouldn’t turn into one of next year’s UFOs.

I’ve been doing baby things still. I’m working on a bonnet to go with the sweaters. Still working on the design of it but it will be pretty simple overall. I’m finding more and more that there is something nice about working on simple projects. Don’t get me wrong, I love complicated (Fern anyone?) but at time when life is crazy it can be nice to just have something you can work on without too many mental gymnastics. Know what I mean?

I’m working on the Prairie Blanket from Oat Couture for the nephew’s new baby. I’m only at about 25 inches and it needs to reach at least 38 before the turning row. I am actually considering making it more like 40 inches so it will really fit a toddler bed. That should give the whole thing alonger life span. Since the shower is April 1st I have a sneaking hunch that the blanket is going to wind up being a welcome home present instead. At least I have the sweater finished and it may have a matching bonnet by then . . . . and I bought a few things so I can put a basket together . . . .

I’m also cooking up several design ideas. I can’t say much about them at this point but I’m really starting to feel like designing is the direction I’d like to move in. I’m having such a good time playing with yarns and stitches and ideas that I think this may be the thing. I can tell you that I currently have one pattern under submission but it will be a while before I know anything . . . once I can say more I surely will.

Okay, off to fix little Mr. Sniffles some dinner. I’m really hoping he’ll have an early/easy night tonight so I can spend some time working on one of these ideas! Wish me luck!

More FO photos, updates and a Blog Contest

Here is a picture of the socks that were finished on Wednesday, in use that same day. They just fit so the next pair will need to be even bigger!

This is the Lavold Sweater, not the best photo of it but it will do for now. If I can get to it I’ll dig out Molly the Manequin from the barn and have her pose with it . . .

Its been a busy few days around here with some knitting getting done but not as much as I’d like. I am basically done with the baby sweater. It just needs to be sewn up. And since I finally got to the fabric store I have buttons for the older niece’s sweater so we’ll hopefully have both of those finised and photos taken soon.

I must confess, Yesterday, I bought yarn. I bought yarn for the baby gift I’m working on for the step-niece’s June baby and I’ve decided on a log cabin style blanket. Its done in squares so I’m going to start it sooner than April and do a square here and there as the startitis hits. Hopefully, that will both keep me from starting extra things for now and get the blanket done sooner.

I also realized yesterday that we have another friend who is expecting the end of next month. They are really friends through the baby’s Godfather, but someone we see from time to time and I want to knit something for their new little one. I haven’t decided what that will be, perhaps a blanket, perhaps just a sweater . . . not sure yet but I’ll have to decide soon and get started. Perhaps the stash and I need to spend some time together for me to figure that one out.

Last night I made the startling discovery that the last remaining undamaged socks need to be darned. All the heels of my socks have worn thin recently and it seems all at the same time. One pair is the Encore pair that I knit on our trip in October so I haven’t even worn them very much. And I’ve been washing everything by hand and line drying/blocking them so they aren’t seeing any hard washing time either. Some of these socks existed around here for years before showing any wear at all and now all of a sudden its an issue. After careful consideration I believe the culprit to be out rugs. Shortly before we had the baby we got area rugs for both the living room and his bed room. And since they were going to see hard use with a child we didn’t exactly go for good, high-end wool rugs either. These are relatively inexpensive nylon carpet. And since I wear my hand-knit socks constantly without covering in the house I’m guessing that the nylon rug is taking a toll on my socks. Guess I’ll have to start wearing my slippers more often . . . and I’ve got a lot of socks to darn. Does darning socks count as a UFO? Or just Mending pile?

There is a reason my knitting calendar is written out on a dry-erase board for the next few months worth. My mom came for a visit earlier this week and while we were talking about my projects (she’s a quilter so she “gets it”) we realized that since she and my step-father are planning to move to Northern Maine before the end of this year, the shawl that I’ve been spinning yarn for is probably not going to be her most immediate need.

We’ve been planning for a pretty lacy number done with an ocean theme both in stitch and color. It will be nice for getting dressed up to go somewhere but not the warmest thing. She mentioned that for more immediate use she would much rather have something a little thicker and warmer. We looked through a few things and decided on the Praire Shawl from Folk Shawls. She’s going to wear it more as an everyday type shawl so something relatively simple was what she wanted and that fit the bill. And since I had told her about my not buying yarn this year she has asked that I may every effort possible to knit it from the stash, provided I have a weight that fits the bill and we can find the right color. So the lace shawl has likely been postponed to a 2008 project and we are going to do the praire shawl instead.

Which leads me to this:

That photo above is a picture of the Lace yarn I plied today for Mom’s Lace Shawl.

Since I’ve been working on the yarn for a long time now I’ve decided to finish spinning it even though I won’t likely use it this year. That way we can move on to other spinning projects without leaving this one as a UFO.

I’d actually forgotten how magical plying can be. Watching the way the colors form and change in the yarn as the singles are plied together. It can be really interesting, though sometimes the interest level can wear thin when it takes a long time to get the yarn plied as it did with this.

While I was working on it I had an idea. . . .

Blog Contest

This is a very simple contest. All you have to do to enter is take a guess at how many yards of yarn are on the bobbin in the photo above. Rather like guessing how many jelly beans were in the jar in school. To keep it simple, here are the rules.

1. To enter, leave a comment in my comments area from this post with your guess as to yardage and a way for me to contact you. One entry per person please.
2. Each number may only be used once, like on “Price is Right”, so guess early to have the biggest selection. If someone else has guess that number please choose a different number.
3. Closest guess, in whole numbers only, without going over the yardage will be our winner.
4. If I am unable to contact the winner within a resonable amount of time (like a week) then the next closet guess will be contacted . . .

Ready for the prize?

The winner will receive their chose between the following: Either 1 oz of Cashmere spinning fiber or 60 yds of handspun, lace-weight Alpaca. Both are shown in the photo below, Cashmere on the left, Alpaca yarn on the right.

Entries will be accepted through Thursday night and I’ll announce the winner on Friday.

Okay, off to knit.

Happy New Year!

I am happy to report that I actually did spend some time last night completing the day’s GSA square. That means I have 4 squares completed. In fact, I was so inspired by what it could look like that I may do another square today, if I get a chance.

I also spent some time working on the BFM project and managed to put a cuff on one of the mittens. In the process of trying them on however, I found there are actually a couple of holes that must have developed as the fibers shifted in felting. The plan now is to knit the other cuff and check that mitten for holes as well and then take some of the leftover yarn and stitch over where the wholes are. Then I can use the felting needles to work that yarn into place to seal them up a bit so the snow won’t get in. They don’t need to be perfect, just functional. Afterall, they can’t be a shop pattern any more since I can’t get that yarn anylonger and who knows where my notes went anyway. At least they can have a good life as “playinginthebackyardwithbaby” mittens.

Tonight I also plan to close the toe of those baby socks and see if they still fit him. . . . Who knows, I might get all 4 UFOs done in the next couple of days and get to CO the baby sweater! Wouldn’t that be fun!

Strange coincidence?

I recently recieved both the latest Piecework Magazine (by Interweave) and the latest Vogue Knitting. Last night, while waiting for the ball to drop, I finally took a few minutes to look them over. First I glanced through Piecework over dinner, looks like there may be a few interesting articles, things I’ll actually want to read when I can sit down without someone grabbing the magazine. Later I picked up Vogue and glanced through that. An article on a color knitting technique by Meg Swansen caught my attention . . . wait a minute, wasn’t I just looking at something on this technique? I thought it was by Nancy Bush? That’s strange . . . oh look, both Piecework and Vogue have run articles on the same technique! TVÅÄNDSSTICKNING: Sweden’s Two-End Knitting in Piecework and MEG SWANSEN ON…Traditional Scandinavian Two-End Knitting in Vogue. How strange is that?

Guess we are all going to learn how to knit from both ends of the skein!