Startitis

Happy Birthday, Abe!

On a more mundane note, I am very much in the clutches of startitis, and I'm loving it! Yesterday I received a package from Knitpicks containing about twelve more cables for their beautiful "Options" needles and I expect to employ many of them. Currently on the needles: "Stricken" by Cookie A, "Bella's Mittens", "Portrait" by Norah Gaughan, "Irtfa'a" lace shawl, "Mystery Shawl 11" from Goddess Knits, a pair of gift socks from "The Eclectic Sole", a pair of Cat Bordhi "Coriolus" socks, and I am about to begin "Salt Peanuts" by Veronik Avery. ADD is a gift, folks.

Photos to follow soon, including a look at my reconstituted "wall of yarn".

Please feel free to comment with an answer to this question: How do you plan to ignore/obliterate Valentine's Day?

Moved!

I have moved. I am still unpacking. I hate moving! (Who doesn't?) I am knitting. I'm starting a lot of projects because I've been feeling that I don't have enough variety to pick something to take with me to knit. In other words, I've been knitting "that" scarf, and everything else on the needles requires my full attention. So I've started "Bella's Mittens" in an amazingly soft Misti Alpaca Chunky. The yarn is like a cloud and just makes me want to rub it all over myself (oops). I also went to Canvas Works in Olympia with Ben when I brought him back to college. I got some Cascade tweed and I'm going to make it into "Salt Peanuts' by Veronik Avery. I will post pictures soon, but for now, this is the best I can do.

I LOVE my new space and my eight minute commute to work. Not only that, but Trader Joe's is a mere minutes away.

Thanks again to Secret Sock Knitter who wins the prize for best SP ever.

I have moved!

Just moved to University Place. It is lovely. I will blog soon.

The Jackpot!

I have the absolute best Secret Pal in the world. She has spoiled me silly. Here is just a partial catalog of the wonders that arrived late last week:

I hardly know where to begin. Let's start with the sock blockers. I have never blocked socks, but I sure will start now! If nothing else, socks look really awesome on the blockers. They are small, just like my feet, and I'm quite tickled at having them. I never would have thought to get these, but I KNOW I will wonder how I ever lived without them.

Next, my amazing psychic pal sent some beautiful periwinkle lace yarn. How did you know that I just signed up for my first Mystery Shawl knit along? It called for purple or green or gold lace yarn, and I did not have any of those colors. This yarn is perfect for the project, which I can't describe, since I only have the first clue. I do know that it will be a triangle, and there are beads. I got some lovely AB purple beads which look great with the yarn. Stay tuned for phohtos when I actually begin the knitting.

Next, (I'm already overwhelmed) we have a very funky zipped case, in which the above-mentioned beads and tiny crochet hook are residing. This is an artisan piece, not any off-the-rack fabric case. And inside were beautiful beaded stitch markers and some heavenly smelling beeswax/lavender emollient hand salve(?) in a pretty bee-decorated tin. You are a very attentive pal and you really got my number(s). Wow....

OK, continuing with the overwhelming gifties:Two beautiful sock yarns. I love them both and cannot pick a favorite. I'm glad I don't have to! One is lovely pinks and browns; I have to check out the repeat pattern before deciding what kind of socks I'll make from it. The other is a funky, multicolored hand dyed masterpiece. I love each and every color, and I think this yarn will hold some real surprised when it's knit up.

And on and on....Yummy body butters from Mark, each smelling better than the last. Two vanilla citrus soaps. I can't decide whether to wash with them or use them as sachets in my drawers. A bottle of Eucalan! I love Eucalan. I use it on my handspun and any other wool I wash. So it's my socks' best friend.

Speaking of sachets. This lovely lavendar filled, embroidered little pillow smells great, looks great, and is going to reside with my sock yarn. It keeps the moths away, or so I've heard.

Thanks a gazillion, SP; you rock! Next post I will show you what ELSE came in the box. Yes, unbelievable but true. You have also inspired me to be an even better spoiler to my own Pal.

Don't Play with your Food? Fogettaboutit

Where the line between fun and obsession blur deliciously:

Snowed in and happy

I guess that being snowed in has its advantages. I'm finally getting around to posting to this blog. Sorry for the long silence! First things first: SP13 Question #2 was about holiday knitting. I wasn't going to do any (yeah, right). My daughter decided just last week to go to Buffalo NY over winter break. I hadn't gotten her any Hanukkah presents yet, so I had to get busy.


She had been asking for a hat from my handspun yarn for a few months. I have only been spinning for a few months and felt that my handspun was both poor in quality and precious at the same time, since I haven't done much spinning at all yet. So I have kind of been hoarding the yarn, fondling and criticizing it.
Then I saw Stephanie Pearl McPhee's "Unoriginal Hat" and thought it would be perfect for my bulky, uneven yarn. Here's the result: I must admit that I'm pretty pleased! This was my first spinning with dyed roving. It's from Reflection Farm, and I really love the way the colors came out. Total serendipity, since I had no idea what I was doing in either the spinning or the plying. I hope my daughter wears it and likes it. The really good news is there's enough yarn left over that I can make a second hat for myself, thus continuing the fondling/criticizing cycle for a while longer.

That is the sum total of my holiday knitting.

The weather! Yikes, it's been scary here. Now, if I still lived in Massachusetts or Vermont or even New York, this wouldn't be such a big deal. But here in the Puget Sound area, we just don't get snow. It rarely gets below freezing, and if it does, it doesn't last long. I won't give you a rerun of this story; there is much weather to be had everywhere now. I do, however, live on an island. There are many, many large old evergreens all over the island, and the power lines are NOT buried. We lose power frequently. During the last wind storm, we lost part of the roof and were without power for a week. With the temperatures hovering in the teens and lower and with winds predicted upwards of 50 mph, the kids and I had a family meeting and decided to get out of Dodge. We are fortunate to have a dear friend in Tacoma with whom we are now camped out. Here are a couple of views this morning:Since I started this post, the sky has gotten even darker. I think there is more snow on the way. In the meantime, my kids have been knitting as well. Dalya made a hat based on a character from South Park:

She also has crocheted Kenny, and is moving on to Kyle or Cartman, I'm not sure which :Please don't ask me why the test is suddenly underlined I don't know and I can't seem to change it. This is not a link!
Finally, my son Ben has started knitting a hat. Black, of course, since he is nineteen and very cool. I'm trying to convince him that colors are fun (and a lot easier to see when you're knitting!). Here is his first knitting in the round. I'm impressed. Of course, I'm his Mom:


Well, that is it for now. I have some essays to write that I MUST finish today. I have some very dark chocolate to help me with the process. Stay warm!

New Hair Day

I've been a bit promiscuous with the hair color lately.I've gone from blonde to less blonde to red/pink/yellow/orange to this, which I really, really like. Thanks, Aura for the photo, which I lifted from your blog. This woman is a color genius and she is well worth a trip to Tacoma WA from just about anywhere. So what do you think?

Meanwhile, I did, in fact, teach my son to knit and he has really taken to it! I didn't want him to learn with crummy needles and cheapo yarn, so we went and got him Addis and I let him pick the yarn. When he said "This one just leaped out at me," I knew we had another member of the club. I'll try to get a picture of him in the act.

Life has been quite challenging lately, and I really don't want to say any more than that right now. Suffice it to say, I am working very, very hard to keep things positive. To Secret Sock Knitter: I will try to be more communicative!

Later.