My Sheep's Hot Flash

Over at the "Cold Sheeping" support thread I fessed up that my sheep had a major Hot flash. Well I didn't want to post all the picture (many pictures) that showed what I bought over there but some wanted to see so I decided to make a blog post about it. (Very picture heavy)



This is what started it all. 5 balls of Cascade 220 in black for Skywalker's new sweater. As you will see these 5 little balls opened the flood gates.

In no order what so ever here we go:

Fleece Artist merino2/6 in ebony


Dream in Color Smooshy in "Good Luck Jade"


Dream in Color Baby in "November Muse"


Malabrigo Silky Merino in "Velvet Grapes" (to go with the other 4 I have)


LB Cashwool in "Charcoal"


Universal Yarn Cotton Supreme in "Brown"


Knit Picks Stroll Sport in "Clematis Heather"








Knit Picks Comfy fingering in assorted colors Marlin, semolina, honeydew, lilac, peony, peapod , and flamingo


Knit Picks Felici sport in "Sorcery"


Knit Picks Felici in "Rainbow"


Hand Maiden Sea Silk in "BLue Lagoon"


Dream in Color Starry in "Dusky Aurora" (it has real silver threads in it!)


Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted in "Whitewater"


Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport in "Black Purl"


Gale's Art BFL/silk in Stormy Seas (the only fiber I bought)

Well that is almost all of it. I am missing picture of 2 yarns and for some reason they went poof! One is just like the Clematis Heather except it is in worsted weight (4 balls of that one) and the other is also from Knit Picks. It is Elegance, which is a alpaca silk mix I believe in Barn Red (also 4 balls)

So there you go my splurge. All that yarn is equal to the amount I knitted last year. 61 balls or 12,761 yards or 7.25 miles. Oh boy!

ETA: I also bought hanks of Knit picks Bare to dye, but I didn't think you wanted to see that.

Happy

Father's Day and Happy Anniversary to my Hubby. I love you!

It has been a while

A long while. Heck it has been about a month. Didn't mean to either. I never do. Life just has its way and when one has only a limited amount of time and many thing that need to be done, certain things fall to the side. Sadly it has been many things and I am hoping that it will change soon. I know yesterday I made myself knit. I miss it and I have been going days without. Not because I don't want to knit I have been just so tired that I couldn't concentrate enough to knit.

It felt good yesterday to get those few rows in. It is amazing that just the simple act of knitting makes me feel so much better. I think I am going to make it a point from know on to knit everyday (or something everyday). With everything that is going on I need that me time to relax.

So what have I been up to? Well I may not have been knitting that much but I did do some things. It will be a short list I can tell you and thinking back the amount I did in the past month I used to be able to do in a week or less.



Here it is. I finished my Rabbid. Made Drama's teacher a gift (that would be the black thing - it is a mug with a black cabled cozy) and something for her baby shower (that would be the rainbow colored hat and baby booties) and a little something for one of Hubby's coworkers, whose wife is having a baby boy (that would be the blue hat and bib)

Yeah like I have said not much. I also spun a little bit to finish up what I had on the wheel. I had two yarns half spun. They are plied and waiting for their bath. July is coming up and that means the Tour de Fleece is too. I know I most likely will not be able to do anywhere near what I did last year but I want to do it.

I also bought some yarn. I know I am "Cold Sheeping" but well I started off with good intentions. I bought yarn to make Skywalker his sweater. But well how does that saying go about good intentions... In the month of June a lot of yarn came into this house. Over 60 skeins worth...... I am not even going to mention the yardage because it is a little scary. I am not ashamed or anything I just couldn't believe the flood gates opened. I got some really really nice stuff too. I also got yarn that I have never used before to try them out. I want to cast all of it on right now!! Of course I am not going to but I want to. Having all of this new yarn has lit the knitting fire I guess you could say.

I will have pictures next time of all the yarn. There might also have been new beads arrive too. I will also have a picture of my newest project. I tried taking pictures to day but it is dark and cloudy and no matter what I try I can not get a good picture so I am going to wait for the sun, which according to the weather people is tomorrow.

=)

Happy Mother's Day

I love you Mom!!!

Something I am proud of

This little hank


Why? Well I love to spin. It is something that I wish I could do more often but I can not. My back will not let me sit and spin for more the a few minutes on a good day. I can not even attempt on a bad day. Yesterday was an ok day and I finished what was on my wheel at the time. Well I thought I finished. After I had taken the bobbin off I found a little bit of fluff left. The fluff was alpaca and it is one of my favorite things to spin. I figure I could play around with this little bit of fluff and tried to spin it as thin as I could.



Thin is not something I can do very well. My fingers start complaining pretty quickly. I just took my time (well as much as my body let me) It came out the thinnest I have ever spun anything. Mostly even. Then I plied it.



In all of these pictures the yarn is finished. I forgot to take a picture of the singles. I navajo plied it (think giant chain stitches) so it is a three ply. 3 strands twisted together and look how thin it is!!

I got out my handy dandy Wraps Per Inch thingie and measured



The WPI comes it at about 23 WPI. So the yarn comes in at lace weight. (according to a chart from the internets, but honestly it feel more like fingering to me. I did measure a few times in different places)

My little skein of alpaca fluff spun as thin as I could and plied came out to 12 yards. I wish I had taken a picture of the amount of fluff I used.It wasn't much at all.

So for this little skein sits by me, being admired and petted.
=)

Knitting and Crochet Blog Week-Day 7

"There’s one love that we all share: yarn. Blog about a particular yarn you have used in the past or own in your stash, or perhaps one that you covet from afar. If it is a yarn you have used you could show the project that you used it for, perhaps writing a mini ‘review’. Perhaps, instead, you pine for the feel of the almost mythical qiviut? You could explore and research the raw material and manufacturing process if you were feeling investigative."

Yarn. I heart yarn. I would love to use the "mythical qiviut" It is suppose to be one of the softest fibers around. (it is from bison. It is not sheared it has to be picked after the bison shed it. Very labor intensive)

OK how about for the real world. I love me some STR. Socks That Rocks yarn from Blue Moon. Wonderful stuff. I would love to make a sweater out of it one day. It is a little pricey.

But the colors!



Oh the possibilities!

=)

Knitting and Crochet Blog Week-Day 6

"Bring the fortune and life of a past finished project up to the present. Document the current state and use of an object you have knitted or crocheted, whether it is the hat your sister wears to school almost every day, or a pair of socks you wore until they were full of holes. Or maybe that jumper that you just didn’t like that much…?


Hmmmm I had to think a little on this one. A past FO. I make so many things that well nothing seems to get worn for long before something new comes along. But....



These are my Vog On socks. These were the first socks I had made for myself. I still wear them and in fact the picture was taken where I put my sock that need to be washed. They have there own little basket.

I tried looking but I can not find them in the blog of past. They might be before blog, or maybe I didn't blog about them. I am not sure. I used yarn from Knit Picks that has been discontinued. The wool is not superwashed but they have lasted a long time, many wearings, and many washing with no problems. I remember I liked the pattern very much and have always wanted to make another pair. Maybe soon.