Mercury in retrograde

It's been so long since my last post.....for those astrology buffs out there who are aware of the whole 'mercury in retrograde' thing(sorry, you'll just have to google it, I'm not explaining it here)...my knitting also reflects this:

So, what is this really? It is the practice for a skull & cross bone dog sweater. I've never done intarsia before & I thought I should practice with large acrylic yarn (it's taking up valuable realestate in the stash---it's like the slum yarn that is one block away from the mansion snobbery) before embarking on the actual project.

I learned not to try to have less sewing in by carrying yarn across the back (diagonally no less), because it causes puckering. I also learned that I should not try to make up my own knitting techniques yet.

On the spinning forefront, I went to the latest guild meeting & left with lots of new learning about how to spin handpainted rovings. Here are my swatches:

The one to the left is a "softly spun" single that allows long bands of color. It's not my photography skills...it slants horribly to the right.

This one is the result of a center pull ball plied from both ends. I must admit that I really need to practice winding a center pull ball using the nostepinne, so that it doesn't collapse. I won't tell you how long it took me to untangle the single so that I could ply it properly.

This swatch is the result of the 3 bobbins method. "Identical" singles are plied together from 2 seperate bobbins. Needless to say that my singles weren't identical.

The last swatch is an example of my attempt at navajo plying. I'm using the remainder of my practice roving to "get" how to navajo ply without ending up with rope or a dreadlock.

Finally here is the picture of the 2ply "Pudge"the alpaca yarn. Sent to me earlier this year. I still have to spin the other lovely alpaca roving that came with Pudge from Michigan. but I need to wrap up the stuff currently on my bobbins (which also includes my homespun w/angelina snowflake coaster---more reason to learn how to navajo ply something finer than rope).

Sock Wars Update

I received my SIPs (socks in progress) on Saturday 5/24. One sock was entirely completed. The second sock was completed to the heel flap. So I really didn't have much knitting to do & the new target had even smaller feet that my original target.

I finished the socks yesterday & aired them out overnight (the socks & I somehow were always down wind of the campfire that was cooking our chicken at a picnic).

I just got back from the shipping place--it will take 7 days to get to Saskatoon Canada. I checked out the location on Google Earth 'cause the package place people kept saying "it's up there" when I asked how far Saskatoon is. Well, first of all, it's in Saskatchewan, which is north of Montana in the US. It's 2192 miles away from Torrington, CT.

I think the coolest thing about sock wars is that I would have never checked out the things to do in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. Maybe the next time I'm out that way I'll try curling or lawn bowling or even the Cankerworm Festival that's held in the end of May.

Sock Wars III status: I'm still alive

Sock wars diary:
5/9 received pattern 2pm. Cast on. Finish cuff.
5/10 work to heel & gussett
5/11 finish foot & kitchener toe. Cast on for 2nd sock
5/12 finish to heel.
5/13 Gusset
5/14 foot
5/15 finish off. Package up for mailing.

At this very moment I'm still alive in sock wars (meaning I haven't received a completed pair of socks in the mail). I mailed my socks off Friday afternoon to my target in Washington state. I expect that fightingpixie should be suffering her last breath with nice over sized socks. Why oversized? Well, the pattern was a bit loose. I hope that she can use them for bed socks in the very least. Although my "too loose" handknit socks that were given to me as a gift seem to fall off while I twist around in bed.

So here I sit waiting. I'm kinda impressed that I finished a pair of socks in a week--thank goodness for small feet!

In the meantime, I went for a 60 mile road ride yesterday in Norwalk, CT. Nice ride. Got 2 flats both in rear tire. Got lectured about tire pressure by the volunteer shop wrenches (even though this wasn't my issue) the second flat was from a nail.

I casted on for a market bag 2 days ago. I have been enjoying slowly knitting & the ability to do other things like laundry, sleep, cook, & update blog/ravelry. I'm still working on the updating ravelry. Maybe I'll use this brief spot of sun I see right now to take a photo of the completed toe up lace socks for an xmas gift.

Trimming cat nails

I have an old cat. She's 13 & she has kidney problems. The prescription cat food has done wonders for her accidents however, she has gained a significant amount of weight. Nutmeg was curled up on my lap the other day & dug her rear claws into my leg & put a pull in my linen pants. As she walked away from me (apparently appalled at my lack of interest in her company), I became aware of her claws sticking to the berber carpet. The only thing left to do was trim the cats claws.

I enlisted the assistance of my hubby, got out an old towel & proceeded to clip one set of claws with minimal struggle. Then things got interesting.....

I finished 2 nails, & Nutmeg started kicking, wiggling & growling. I kept trying to trim another nail, but couldn't due to more kicking & wiggling. Hubby held Nutmeg tighter. Sensing that the cat was done with this foolishness, I told hubby to let her go. Nutmeg wiggled more, he squeezed more & then the unthinkable happened--the cat shot urine in a super soaker like stream, just missing my head. He eventually let her go, she walked away & nervously began licking her disheveled fur. We got changed & I cleaned up the floor.

I think Nutmeg has forgiven me for my stupidity in thinking that I would be able to complete this task. I wonder if she'll let me finish those last two nails while curled up on my lap. Don't worry, I'll make sure the knitting is well out of the way.

Procrastination

Much time has past since my last post, but you don't really need me to tell you that. I'll admit, I thought about blogging, but elected to sleep, eat, exercise, pet dog, worry about paying taxes, thought about asking the mortgage gods to pre-approve us, worry about the lump on my dog, clean bathroom, do laundry, & work....all instead of blogging.

I did accomplish some knitting & even some spinning in the past few weeks. I completed the red sweater & I even wore it a couple times. I've discovered that when I wear a sweater that I have knit I feel superhuman--like I'm wearing special armor that's even more impenetrable than "I"m rubber & your glue.....". I'm a little worried how I'll feel when I wear a sweater made from my handspun. Since it will be many months/years before I'm gutsy enough to knit with my own handspun, those of you who know me in person have enough time to prepare your own armor.

I'm nearly 3/4 finished with the baby surprise jacket and I'm pushing for a finish this week.

I finished the blue merino yarn (plied & set the twist). Since I had spinning guild this past Saturday, I took some of the alpaca(his name is Pudge) sent to me by North Star Alpacas. This stuff is dreamy!!!! I've never spun alpaca & I'm worried that I won't be able to go back to wool.

Took the dog to the vet this week for a lump that mysteriously appeared on her ribcage. Xrays showed nothing (good sign) so now we are just monitoring the lump & it appears to be shrinking (yet another good sign). Here is picture of Salta pretending to be good (she was probably looking for dirty underwear).

I have revisited my New Year's Resolutions & decided to add my progress to the sidebar--it makes me feel more productive. The number on the left of the slash is actual completed items, the number on the right is my goal. I hope to spin 2 hours per week, but would be happy with just one. Now that spring is around the corner & the pressure of spending more time in the bike saddle is getting stronger, I think it is more reasonable for me to blog bi-weekly or even monthly. I'll have to see how busy work is and how the cycling season unfolds.

Taming the March lion

The weather here has been typical New England...snow that allowed for 2 days of cross country skiing (I got lost in the woods & nearly had to back track to return to the car--now I know of even more really good XC skiing areas), crazy wind (was that your lawn chair in my front yard), front yard is super saturated with water (even the chihuahua makes squishy noises when he walks on the grass), and flooding (had to go to annual road trip to Falls Village to check out the shear power of the water pounding the rocks below the dam).

I made a great deal of progress on fiber projects. Finished the 2nd pair of baby booties for their 1st b-day (new knitting rule: don't promise to knit for twins). Discovered the cat doesn't like to wear boots...

Finished the deep breath sweater!!!!!! May need to re-knit one sleeve, it may be a little longer than the other arm (must have been those painkillers from January).

Finished spinning the singles of the blue merino roving. In process for plying....

I started to finish the red sweater (seaming the sleeves) but I've been so busy working that I haven't had enough time to focus on this very important part of the project. As it is right now, one sleeve is 3/4 of the way in. Sorry no picture.

This week I hope to finish the seaming & work on the baby suprise jacket & the lacey toe up socks. I will have my evenings free while I attend a craniosacral therapy workshop near Portland, ME. I hope that some of the knitters in Portland respond to my post on Ravelry inquiring about SnB gatherings. Either way, I get to relax and knit in peace (no dogs having to potty while I work my short row heel).

Happy VD!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I got a Nostipinne from my hubby--a gift only a knitter could love or even know what to do with it. I'm posting in a rush--testing the new modem & waiting for hubby to show so we can get to our dinner reservation on time. We're having sushi!!!!!!

Why do I have a new modem???? Well, the phone in was so staticy over the past few weeks I couldn't use our land line at all. I got a new cordless phone & still had static. Swapped to a different phone jack & still had static. Burned sage & still had static (ok, I realy didn't burn sage but I though about it when I heard how much it would cost if the phone guys diagnosed the problem was in our house). So today was buy & install a new modem....still had static. Re-plugged the phone line filter into the new phone....static gone.

Pictures next post...I promise. And maybe even a finished sweater!