The weekend is almost over, already?

My weekend didn't feel very restful. We had a yard sale as a benefit for work yesterday and I was there from 7:15 am - 2:30 pm (that includes taking all the stuff that didn't sell to the Rescue Mission). I got to see lots of people I don't usually get to talk to very much, so that was nice. The bad thing was that after having the kids for a week my house was trashed and much work needed to be done when I got home. I did it so that today I could lounge.

Today was beautiful so I stayed outside in my hammock with my knitting, iPod, phone, and Newsweek on a table beside me, for hours. I rested, knit, talked on the phone, and dodged giant walnuts the squirrels above me were dropping. I couldn't believe how many were falling and then I realized they were dropping some of them unopened. I don't know if they were 'bad' nuts, the squirrels lost their grip, or they really were making a game out of 'who can hit the human in the hammock first.' At one point I had my pillow on top of my head because the nuts were getting really close (but I wasn't giving up my spot). While I was in my hammock one of the squirrels came down the tree and chewed on the rope that was holding up my hammock! I yelled at the little bugger and he scurried off, but he was a little too cheeky for comfort. I did make some progress in knitting.

Here is the Chevron in the sun.



And the fourth "becca" bag.



My first shipment from the Spunky Eclectic Fiber Club has arrived. Two ounces of merino/tencel in lovely blue, white, and golden brown. Yea!



I'm thinking of plying it with something else to make it go farther... We'll see. Now, it's almost time to go knit and veg out in front of the TV.

No jail time...

Hopefully, you will be impressed (or saddened) by my lack of jail time. No jury was needed for my summons date. I'll be honest... I'm not sure how to take it. One part of me is relieved, and the other is very offended.

Steve Earle's album hits the spot for me (and I was touch and go because I wanted to be his seventh wife) and Allison Moorer aside, it is a good album (I really do like her voice BTW - I saw her live with Steve and she was amazing on The Rolling Stones cover of "Sweet Virginia").

Another Loopy Ewe shipment arrived today. Have I mentioned how much I adore Fiesta Boomerang yarn? It is so soft, boingy, and beautiful. Here's my latest shipment (I'm actually worried Sheri doesn't think I feed my children).

Here you have it from left to right: Cherry Tree Hill Sockittome in Fall Foliage, Fiesta Boomerang Baby Boom in: Rainforest, Alaska, Mochachino, and Raspberry Mocha. There is a Wooly Pet in the background. I love to felt and it seemed like it should be my mascot.



My future goals in life: to be an at least one-time wife of Steve Earle, and sock yarn wizard. We'll just have to wait and see...

Washington Square Serenade

He, he! Steve Earle is in the house! I met the UPS guy at the truck and he said, "I sure appreciate that, ma'am." I wanted to say, "Sorry, it's not for you, I want my new Steve Earle. NOW!" It's blaring right already, we (the kids and I) are digging it. I got the special DVD version. In a perfect world, last evening I would have been in NYC watching him live from a very close to the front row vantage. This was foiled by my commitment to civic duty WHICH I FORGOT ABOUT. Yea, talk about HOLY SHIT! Two weeks ago jury duty was on my mind continuously. Yesterday, not at all! Anyway, tomorrow I throw myself on the mercy of the Hillsborough Court House; tonight I will enjoy Steve Earle. The Dear Becca has promised me a cake baked with knitting needles inside if I get tossed in jail.

Click on the link to Steve's website at the right for more information.

Knit for who? When?

Don't get me wrong, I love knitting for people. I love creating for people in general. I'll cook, knit, craft with the best of them for the holidays. I actually like it. Usually. This year, all I want to do is knit for ME. How selfish is that? It's not like the yarn will go anywhere, I have my projects carefully designated, but still, the wool is calling to me.

The Newest, Best, most Beloved Chevron Scarf (for, hmm, ME!).



Today, I went to the Hillsborough Yarn Shop for more sock needles (too many socks, too few needles - is the solution to finish a pair of socks? Heavens no - buy more needles!) And I was feeling guilty for not buying any yarn (I couldn't confess my recent betrayal with The Loopy Ewe) and I was talking about my recent purchase of the Knittery Sock Yarn with cashmere, and Anne said, "I have something for you to check out." And she went back in the storage room and brought out the most amazing socks LINED IN CASHMERE! OHMIGOD! It was so luscious I almost couldn't stop rubbing them. Well, let me tell you, All FEET NEED CASHMERE (my feet told me I had to pass it along)! Go, buy cashmere. Knit socks. Enjoy.

Frogged!

Out with the old, for sure. The fifth attempt a chevron scarf (the first using yellow and blue skeins of Koigu KPPPM) and the other three with different needle sizes using Amazon and Caribbean Fiesta Boomerang is OVER! Done. It was partially the unevenness in the stitching, but mostly just poor color choice on my part. I took it to Becca for another opinion and she said, "It's BRIGHT!" Aha! The real problem, I don't DO bright. Clearly, I am not very bright for plodding on with it for several days. It had become my "phone knitting" - for evening phone conversations after the children are in bed. It was comforting and the yarn so soft. While it was comforting, it was not visually pleasing and I had, "Oh, you're just not very adventurous" thoughts instead of, "This isn't you, idiot" thoughts.

Take three. Wait, or is it six. Oh, what the hell, here it is in better colors: Fiesta Boomerang (I'm in love with this yarn) Salsa (the purple and yellowy bits) and Laguna Bay (the blues, brown and purples). These colors seem to get on well together, and they please me to no end. Sigh. I thought I'd never get to this place again, and I feared maybe I just couldn't knit a Chevron Scarf to save my soul. Never say die.



A bigger, better picture tomorrow (I've already done an hour on it since this photo- Hee - it is love.

Nature and socks

Thinking that today was probably one of the last times it would be warm enough to swim in the Eno River, we spent two hours there today. The children did some Andy Goldsworthy tribute art, swam, and poked at a dead fish with sticks ('cause you just have to, that's why). We have borrowed three books on Andy: Stone, Time, and A Collection with Nature. In addition, we're watching the documentary Rivers & Tides, so we've got some Goldsworthy on the brain.

Here's some Morgan art



Some Chicky art



And a sample of Bowen's



While the children were swimming and creating I was working on Roza's socks by Grumperina. I'm using the luscious Loden Cherry Tree Hill Supersock. It's a 3x3 rib with brioche stitch (in the purl sections). As is somewhat typical for me, I rather like the "wrong" side better than the "right." Huh.



It looks better now that I've gotten a little farther than what is pictured. I wasn't sure I even liked it at all last night, but today in the sunlight it looked quite nice.

Empty sock needles (for ten minutes)

Four of my size 1 needles (there are many of them) are empty! Here are the finished Lacy Scallops Socks.



The sock on the right is still wet and blocking. I can't wait to wear them. It was cooler this week (in the 70's) but today it's back to the 90's so I guess it will be a while.

I've cast on Bowen's socks (he doesn't like much of a cuff so they'll go quickly).



And, I'm still working on Elena's second sock. Almost finished...really.

Chevron woes

Urgeda! (I've never tried to spell it before; it's kind of like the Swedish "ufda!" I learned to say growing up in Grand Marais, MN, only three syllables and more negative.) The chevron scarf is still wanting to fold into thirds. I'm hoping a severe blocking will cure it. I also picked one skein that was very me, and the other skein is a real stretch for my personality. I have been wearing black everyday since Bush was re-elected (as a personal protest and outer manifestation of my inner grieving) and reds and oranges have never been my thing. They look ok together and I have some fondness, but I'm not in love over here. Here it is on go number four:



Sorry about the yellow - it was raining outside or I would have gotten a better picture outside.

OH. MY. LORD. - some guy just ran past my house TALKING ON A CELL PHONE! Ok, he was young (high school - not legal, so I'm sure he had the stamina) but really! One OR the other people.

I feel a little ranty today so I'm going to go off here: I just drove through the new development going in behind my house. Four years ago when I moved here, it's all woods. Two years ago - development. Urgeda! Anyway, I'm on my way back from getting my Guinness and there is a landscaping company installing sod on a plot less than a quarter of an acre! The part I'm freaking out about is that we are in a DROUGHT down here - the farmers have asked for emergency relief for Pete's sake and there are mandatory water restrictions (requiring people to prove it takes less than 30 gallons if they want to wash their car). I've seen the license plates of the newcomers and they are from up North, but a mere GLANCE at your fucking surroundings will tell you rain has not been a frequent visitor to this part of the country in a while. I'm thinking this may very well be illegal. I can't imagine these people having a well, and if they have a wet one they are fortunate. In defense of the landscaping company actually doing the work, I'm sure it's SUCKING for them right now. I've mowed my yard a total of three times this summer. Even the weeds aren't growing. Ok. I'm feeling a little better. Deep breath in. Out. In. Out.

Spindle pictures

First my new spindle, a Nordic, designed by Priscilla Gibson-Roberts and crafted by Jorn Piel. I'm spinning silk caps on it right now and it is quite lovely. There was some careful pushing of the whorl so it would be tight. It comes off for easy storage and portability, but unlike the cherry lap spindle, it doesn't screw on and stay tight. It is art without the fiber production.



Then, my favorite, the cherry lap spindle. Also by Priscilla Gibson-Roberts and Jorn Piel.



Here are the wound skeins for the chevron scarf. This will be my fourth attempt (I've tried size 5,6, and 8 needles so far). I'm going at it with size 7's this time and hoping the feather and the fan will be more even and less bumpy or holey. URG!



May the knitting goddess be kind to me on this one.

Ravelry baby!

I got my invite! I'm doing a little happy dance in my chair here. What are other people doing at 12:41 in the am. Sleeping? Oh. They musn't have gotten their ravelry invites today! Posting projects right now. Mostly FO's because it's less depressing. Looking back, I've knitted my ass off. Took some stash photos yesterday because I checked my status and it said there were like 127 people ahead of me.

My Paradise Fibers order arrived today. I'll post some pictures tomorrow. The only exciting things (picture wise) are a new spindle, and some merino to spin. Yea.

Back to ravelry.

Fibery pictures

I took pictures of the beeeeautiful yarn from The Loopy Ewe - what good is just talking about it? Here is the yarn for the Chevron Scarf (Amazon has the red, and Caribbean the blues)



I have finished spinning and plying the merino/tencel. Now I'm wondering what I'll make with it.



Some lovely merino/cashmere for socks from The Knittery. How decadent.



And I've decided to make Anne Modesitt's backyard leaves scarf with the two skeins of Chameleon Colorworks Becca brought me. Here's the beginning.



There, the day was marginally better than yesterday, but when there are fiber pictures, it just takes the edge off.

Down in the dumps

After a day of unstoppable suckiness, I figured a few pictures of anything might help. I got another shipment from The Loopy Ewe of Fiesta Boomerang in Amazon and Caribbean for the Chevron Scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. They are beautiful. I am forcing myself to finish socks and the green bag before I even wind them into center-pull balls.

I saw the The Avett Brothers this past weekend at the Riverfront Harvest Festival on Saturday. They were great, as usual. Hanging out in the crowd up front was like being in the chorus. Almost everyone there sang along during the songs and was very appreciative. I'm sure there are oodles of pictures on flickr if you do a search for them. There were a thousand or so before that show.

Because of the storm, this week at the beach there was enough seaweed to do some Andy Goldsworthy art, but I couldn't come up with anything. I did find a wee baby crab in one pile, and I spent way too much time pondering how many creatures had lost their housing.



I also added to my shell jar (I tend to like the smallish bits)



And because of the storm is was great kite weather



And this one was higher than the other two



The weekend was good. The week since I've been back has left more than a little to be desired. I guess my world is just restoring it's balance - can't have too much good stuff.

Halfway...

Half of Elena's socks



And half of my lacy scallops socks



are finished! I didn't do part of the scallop pattern on the foot of my sock because I wasn't sure about the bumpiness in my shoes (I'm not so much a fan of that). I may try making a pair for Chicky without the extra knitting/purling rows and just do the lace stitch.

I've also been scouring wool on my stove top today. I'm dying it purple with Kool-Aid. It's cooling to room temp before I do anything with it. We'll have to see how it looks in the morning.