Where I Post About Other Things Besides Knitting and Spinning

This year I decided to take Jewel's gardening down a more aesthetically pleasing path.  I have lots of annuals growing and I'm having a lot of fun.  I do still have strawberries and I planted some baby beans from seeds and they have been doing quite well.  I noticed that something has been munching on the leaves and a few of them are missing the leaves entirely.   Little did I know what I would find outside in the garden:

The poor thing.  I had sprayed poison to kill the bugs and it ate some of the leaves after I sprayed.  I'm glad Kyle has graciously volunteered to dispose of it.  While we have 3 cats, you can't count on them for anything.

Meanwhile, here are a few photos of some of the pretty colorful annuals.  I am also proud to announce I am the proud Mom of 4 baby pumpkins, two of which are shown here.   Just letting y'all know I do more things than spin and knit.  But not much.  :-)

Of Rams and Yowes

I know I have knitters and non-knitters alike reading my blog so the non-knitters may not relate to much all of this, but you just never know! 

As a knitter when I see something like this, it screams to me, "Drop everything you're doing and make me!"  When I saw the Rams and Yowes, I knew this had to be mine.  However, being a spinner I furthered the challenge within myself and decided to spin the yarn for this.  Of course, Fat Cat Knits was the only way to go with this.  I selected Falkland fiber base because of its texture and is perfect for this.  Then I realized, "Self... if you're going to make this.... go big or go home!"  I mean seriously - the original pattern is for only a 3' x 3' size and I mean really.... it would fit my right foot and maybe a cat.  So, I'm going to quadruple this and make it 6' x 6', or thereabout. 

Let's recap here.   I'm making Rams and Yowes, spinning the yarn, and making it 4 times the original size.  I'm also still plugging along on my Princess and I'm thrilled to state that I am on point #70 of 85.  15 to go! 

If I haven't hit certifiable insanity before, I'm there now.

Here are some photos of what I've spun so far.  Again, these are all in Falkland base and are each 2 ounces.  I am expecting four additional colors and that should round out all of the possibilities of colors I may want to use. 





Bottom row: Carbon, Specter, Gandalf, Dove, Natural.
Middle row: Chestnut, Sienna, Taupe, Ash Beige.
Top row: Smoke, Cameo, Columbian Roast





Sometimes Specter looked like natural in some of the photos, so here they are side by side for comparison: natural on the left, Specter on the right. Specter: For those times when a girl wants a bit of ghostly color. Sorry. :-)


Bottom row:  Specter, Gandalf, Dove
Top Row:  Sienna, Taupe, Ash Beige



Bottom row:  Taupe, Ash Beige

Top Row:  Cameo, Columbian Roast

Bottom row:  Carbon  Gandalf, Gandalf Dove, Natural, Specter

Top row: Taupe, Ash Beige.

Cameo is peeking out on top of Taupe.
Sorry for the error in the colors above.

So there you have my progress as of today.  I need 9 colors total.  I know which ones I will be using for sure, but I need to fill in the spectrum.  I have on order 4 more colors from FCK and I will post for all my knitting/spinning buddies.

Meanwhile.... the Princess awaits.  This is going to be a gorgeous shawl, destined for something very special some day. 

Being a Princess

I finally decided to take the plunge and knit Sharon Miller's Princess Shawl.   There are 85 points to knit along the bottom edge and then over 800 stitches are picked up and the shawl is then knit upwards.  I'm currently on point number 14.   This is definitely a test of my patience and I ran out of it before I could finish the first point.  sigh.

I hope to have this done in 12 to 18 months, but we shall see.   Here she is with 3 points being done.

Well, Hello There!

Yessiree.  It's been since May that I've posted anything.  Life has kept me busy!

I've been tackling the Knitting Room, or wanting to, for quite some time and today I made a huge step in the right direction.  Last Christmas I was given a gift card from a very generous friend and I finally spent it on something to help organize my tons of circular needles. 

So, today I put on my big girl panties and just sat down and did it.  It took all afternoon too.

Big Bag O'Needles



I started cataloging them in Ravelry and of course, I had a lot of help from a very helpful cat.  How would I ever have managed without him?

"What?"

I got out the labeler and finally finished it.  Not bad, eh?

Three little Namastes, all in a row!

What's next?  My pile of DPNs.  I have to turn them from a pile of sticks into something much more organized.  

Happy New Year everyone!  2012 is going to be a fab year for me!!

Busted!

He Said She Said The Giants Are Doing Great!

Have you ever tried to take your picture when you're talking?  Well, I'm cheering the Giants on at the same time as taking my picture.  That, in itself, is a huge accomplishment as most of the time I can't walk and chew gum.   But, I wanted to show off my He Said She Said hat and cowl by ChicKnits.   I used Cascade superwash yarn.  It's not the 220, but the chunkier kind.  This is my second set.  Earlier this year I made a red one.  It's packed away for winter, though.  These knit up really quickly and they're super warm.   Edited to add:  (I think the guy right over my shoulder is posing for the camera too.  ha ha)


The AT&T Stadium is outstanding.  Here it is outside the park at night.   Where else can you see palm trees wrapped in orange lights but San Francisco??! 

If Looks Could Kill

So, I finished Meems' Giants sweater.   She doesn't look terribly thrilled, does she?   I figure it's payback for all the 3 a.m. meowing and trying to get me up to play and feed her.

I consider this my swatch to see if I like the yarn enough to make a Giants sweater for myself.  The jury is still out.