All the pictures...

Well, I've been bad about posting pictures and now I'm going to pay for it :(

I caught up on all my photo taking, but now I have to wait for them to load. This is a good reason for why I should consider something besides dial up.

So first, we have a fun hemp/cotton blend yarn that has been transformed into a string bag and a little pouch to go with it. I still need to put a zipper in the pouch, but other than that it's all done. This stuff was fun to work with and didn't feel like twine. My father looked at the bag and said "that's way too small for groceries". He changed his mind after I loaded it with the can goods from the pantry and showed him how much it could expand :)


Next, we have pictures of my own handspun yarn.... I still need some practice.. From left to right, they are my first, second and third attempts at spinning with a wheel..



Now.. we get to the good stuff... my package from Cheep Like the Budgie. Now since it's time to start trying to guess... I have to say I still have no idea :P

Here's all the fun stuff.. and a close up of the stitch markers!

And last but not least, are the two sets of stitch markers I've gotten so far from the stitch marker swap. The top set is from mrsmotter, and the bottom set from turtlegirl76 (yes, the set that gave her away as my SP). They are laying on the new double points from my CASP :)

Package, Envelope, and Eskimo...

Today was a good day. I got my first paycheck from my new job, got home and found lots of goodies. There was a box from my CASP full of wonderful goodies! She used smarties for packing material (along with some real packing material)... totally yummy. Then there were 2 skeins of WotA in what I'd call black along with five inch long size 3 double points. Now.. I've never seen double points that short... I knew they made them, but had never seen them! Wonder how they'll be to knit on? There were some lovely stitch markers and a CD case to use as a circular needle holder. Gonna have to try that one. Also a deck of cards and a cute magnet. (pics tomorrow or so when I have some light)

On top of all that I got my second set of stitch markers from the stitch marker swap. This set was from Turtlegirl76... now... if she hadn't written anything, I probably would have never put the return address together... opening mail after a 12 hour shift means your head isn't quite all there... but she did write something and I had to go back and look hard to figure out what she meant. (I know, I know, it might seem obvious, but still). My sweet own Eskimo Pie is none other than Turtlegirl76! (and if I'm wrong... please don't tell me :P~ )

I made yarn... I think...

Well, I spent five hours at Twist today learning how to draft and spin. My drop spindle now has yarn on it! Not much, but it's yarn. And soaking in the sink right now are three skeins of homespun that I need to hang up to dry. I'll take pictures when they're all dry, but needless to say, I WAY overplied! Oh well, just need more practice. Now.. who wants to get me a spinning wheel for my birthday????

On the way back, I picked up three fleeces from a friend. I'm hoping he doesn't read this, cause he doesn't like mush, but it was SOOOO sweet of him to get them for me. Now... to learn how to play with those too. Debbie, my spinning instructor, suggested that I keep one of the fleeces here and work on it myself then send the other two out. I'm thinking about it. Problem is, I really have no place to wash it where I can get hot water. Any ideas? I have a front loader, so no washing machine.

Oh well, pics of my yarn when it's dry!

Guess not..

Well, the bag got about halfway through the skein before I realized 1. I didn't have enough yarn 2. I needed to use bigger needles and 3. I didn't like it. So.. tonight I frogged the bag, and restarted it on size 15's. I was going to try 17's, but the only ones I have are 32 inches, and that's just too long for this project.

On the plus side...
I have my first spinning lesson in the morning. Hopefully I'll actually be able to use my drop spindle when this is all over. My friend picked up three fleeces for me tonight, so after my lesson tomorrow I get to go pick them up. I really hope they are well skirted and not too dirty, since this is my first time playing with them. I've already decided to send them out for processing. I've also made a date with whichendisup to dye some yarn this coming up weekend. Wow... that's a lot of pluses.

and I will have this bag done tomorrow.... I hope.

Bah..

Well, another week, not another FO. Phooey... I'm not getting very far here. I almost finished a Reverse Bloom washcloth out of Crystal Palace Cotton Chenille, but managed to break the yarn on my VERY LAST round! Bah.. now I need to frog back to where I have an end long enough to weave in, and I just didn't feel like doing that tonight. My magic loop socks are still sitting in my purse, haven't managed to get past the toe up cast on for those. My shawl is at the point where one row takes forever, so I'm sure I'll finish that by next year. In an effort to try to finish something this weekend, I started a mesh bag with my hemp/cotton yarn that came today. Guess we'll see how that goes. To top off the whole mess, I had an unexpected dentist appointment today and now I'm sore.

I need a night out, and a few drinks :)

Market and S.E.X.

Warning: picture heavy post.. probably more pictures in this one than in all the rest.

So I went down to Market in King of Prussia yesterday. Remind me to NEVER listen to mapquest again. Bleh... if rte 202 goes right in front of the mall, why on earth did that site have me going on the turnpike and making so many turns that I ended up making a few wrong ones??? I took 202 home. Sure it goes to one lane and goes through the centers of town. Sure you have to twist and turn to stay on it. BUT it is only one road and very well marked. Not to mention all the neat little places I found to stop along the way.

Now.. for some S.E.X. and market pictures.. Actually, I was a bad girl and didn't take nearly as many pictures as I should have. Plus, Bina has the picture of her and I. Not to mention that after saying "remind me to take a picture" at lunch, I forgot :P

So, the only picture I actually took at market, was of Grafton Fiber's needle felted (I'm assuming) mermaid. Now how cool is that? They also had a tree frog that should be in Bina's picture. Isn't he cute????

Now, I went a little nuts when I hit Brooks Farm's booth. I started with three skeins of yummy mohair/wool/silk in a deep purple. Well, truthfully, I started with one, but 500 yds didn't seem enough, so I got a second one. Now 1000 yds is a lot, but not enough for me to make a sweater in DK weight. Of course, the women at the booth were no help, they kept saying, "You can always return it, but you can't get more". So of course, I grabbed up the third (and last) skein for a total of 1500 yds. It's got some very slight variations in the saturation, and is so yummy! I think that may become a sweater. I also got an orphan skein of wool/mohair in a very pale purple/peachy that will become a gift for a friend. (pic below with the blues)

After that bit of S.E.X. I met up with some knittyheads for lunch. It is so cool to meet you gals in real life! This was my second knitty meet up and I have yet to be disappointed. Congrats to MBT for selling her patterns! We had a very nice lunch, and then I went back and zoomed in on Brooks Farm again :P I got three more skeins, all three orphans. It's so nice to give those little orphans a home. The two blues are from different dye lots, and when held together, it's obvious that one is darker. BUT... I figure I can stripe all three to mix them together, or one of the solids can go with the multi I bought yesterday and one can go with a skein that's been sitting in my stash getting petted a lot :)

I also got three skeins out of the 'pot luck' box at Decadent Fibers. It's a mohair/wool mix, seems to be DK weight. Inside, I thought two of the skeins were the same dye lot, but outside I found that one is much darker and one is much brighter. Oh well, I still like them! With 490 yds per skein, I figure there's plenty I can do with them. They had the greatest felted pumpkins, but of course, I forgot to take pictures.

On the way home, I discovered two new yarn shops. Stitch Inn is in Lahaska, PA. Cute, not so little shop. Good selection and the ladies were friendly. I got to show off my goodies to one of their customers who was debating a trip to market today. I also bought my mom her missing skein of Encore. She's so proud of her stash now. Even if it only takes up one of the new large ziploc bags.

Then in New Hope, I found Twist Knitting & Spinning. Deborah was very nice, as I opened the door right at 5pm (which was her closing time), and she didn't say a word. Let me look around, answered my questions and then let me show off my new goodies! She offers spinning lessons, so I think I'll be going down that way again.

All in all, it was a WONDERFUL day. I ended it by having dinner with my mom and then finding out that all the classes I wanted for Stitches are already sold out, so now I'm wondering if it's worth a four hour trip just to go shopping.

Week in review..

Well, my first week of work is almost over. The first few days were spent in a classroom doing generalized and basic nursing orientation. For anyone who has never had the pleasure... it's well... BORING! After you've done it once (and for your first job, you're just nervous anyway) there really isn't too much new. Today I was on my unit, and my preceptor is awesome! Next week should be quite a bit of fun, but for tomorrow, it's back to the classroom :(

Haven't finished much in the way of knitting, since I've been going to bed early and waking up at some unheavenly hours this week. No progress on my shawl, but I have almost finished what I'm making out of the frogged sweater. (can't post what it is yet...)

That's pretty much it for my week, though I did go to the range for a while today since I got out of work at 3:30pm.

I got an ENVELOPE!!!

She did it again... my wonderful SP has managed to get all this into a flat rate envelope. That light green thing hiding under the socks is a cute round tin that the socks came packaged in. Once I figure out who she is, I'm asking for packing lessons! (I'll admit, I'm not trying too hard to figure it out... I like surprises)


Sorry there are no pictures of the socks on my feet ( I did try one on quickly and it does fit!).. somehow, I managed to sun burn just the fronts of my ankles and top part of my feet, so socks aren't my friend right now. However, I LOVE that she made me socks! So cool. If I was going to make socks for my SP, she'd end up waiting till next century to get them.

It's FROGGED!!!!!

After a few hours of total frustration, followed by a flash of insight, the sweater is now either in balls waiting their turn for a bath and a stretch or hanging in the shower drying out. No pictures of the mess of yarn hanging from the shower head, cause then I'd have to clean the bathroom.

For my first time frogging a store bought sweater, I think it went rather well. Whoever put this thing together had a thing for using teeny tiny stitches in a thread that matches perfectly. I didn't loose much of the yarn (at least, the pile of yarn scraps wasn't that large). Now, to find a thrift store in the area... not that I really need more yarn, but it was quite fun!

Recycling...

Of course, I always forget to take pictures before I start...

My Aunt had this great sweater, the first time I ever saw it I told her that when she shrunk out of it don't throw it out, I want the yarn. Well, this weekend she brought me the sweater, and I got to embark on my first ever attempt at frogging a store bought sweater. Not as easy as I thought it would be, whoever made it had the seams double stitched, and used a thread colour that matched way too well. So far, I've gotten both arms off, frogged one of them, and ripped out a side seam. I'm not even sure what to do with the neck and the shoulders, but I'll figure it out when I get there.

Here's the yarn after a bath (and the dye STILL ran, the water was bright pink when I took it out) and a hang dry. Such a pretty combination of colours.. and I'm not even a fan of pink.

It's a wool, acrylic, nylon and 'other' blend. I have to wonder if they used wool as a generic for any animal fiber, as I had to stick this thing in the freezer before I could frog it and my Aunt kept saying it was mohair. If I can get through frogging the whole thing, I'll have quite a bit of yarn. This one weighs in a 89gms and it's just one arm.

Happy 4th

Okay, I'm a few days early, but so were the fireworks last night. As I sat outside eatting dinner with a friend I got to see a few really large fireworks. It was a nice way to end a great day (even if he didn't get to see them)

Yesterday I went with a friend to the Kutztown Country Fair. I was a bit disappointed, not one of the demostration artisians was doing anything with fibers except weaving (and it wasn't fine gauge weaving). Granted, it was too hot to want to do anything with fleecy fibery goodness, but still :(

There was however, this thing:














I even had some of his sandwich (and I don't eat meat that often). It's a whole oxen and is apparently part of the festival every year. There was an explanation sign next to it, but I've forgotten it already. I got a bit sunburnt at the fair and it wipes me out.

Not much else, I've been slowly working on demolishing the third floor of the house so my father and I can rebuild it into a livable room for me. Other than that, it's been a pretty lazy week for me. Guess I'll enjoy it while I can.