In the mood...

..for finishing!

My youngest sister's birthday is right around the corner and what better way to whip out a quick gift than to use three different yarns held together on US15s?

I based it on the Purl Scarf from LMKG, but didn't add any fringe or use any of the called for yarns. As for the yarns I used, well, the only label I have in front of me is the Plymouth Baby Alpaca Worsted. I also used some sparkly Feza yarn that came in one of the biggest balls I've ever seen, and some mohair that has something like a 450yd put~up. I've got enough to make a whole 'nother scarf, which is good since Christmas is coming and my SILs favorite color is blue :o)

Normally I wouldn't have given the sprakly, er...sparkly stuff a second glance and mohair is definitely not a favorite but together it works. I really like it! More than I thought I would actually.

I'm thinking that a FO was just what I needed to push me to finish my holiday knitting. I still have to finish a Swallowtail Shawl and a baby sweater for the boys teachers, a cabled scarf and some fetching for my middle sister, and figure out what to give the little one since she's getting a scarf for mer birthday. Add my SIL to that list and I'm going to be kind of busy for the next few weeks. The men folk (the BILs) will be getting gift cards or something.

I'm starting to feed my new hobby. No I didn't buy a wheel (lol), but I did but a new spindle and some fiber from The Spunky Eclectic. It seems as though bottom whorl is not my thing, as I'm having the worst time with the little spindle I got from Kid n Ewe. I like the Ashford but it's really heavy. Hopefully I'll like the Little Si.

In other news...I'm tired (hey, I didn't say it was breaking news), I need to start my holiday shopping and get my house decorated since my B&SIL are coming for Christmas. I got a coffeemaker AND a microwave. Oh, and Phoebe is coming home today!!

Some of you may remember way back when reading about my cat. Well when we came out from DC she stayed behind because it would have just been to difficult with the hotels and temporary housing and whatnot. My friend Donna was her foster mom for a few months (thank you Donna!!!) and I love her for helping me out. She's on a plane as I type, headed this way! Yay! I can't wait to see her :o)

Next time hopefully I'll have more FOs for you!

The littlest hank

Please excuse the blurry pic, not sure what happened.

Speaking of not being sure of what happened...how did this happen?? I'm discovering just how many types of spindles there are out there, all the pretty roving that's available...y'all know where this is going right?

Coffee maker, you're killin' me

Now? Now you decide you don't want to work? And with absolutely no warning. Thanks. Thanks a lot. Not only do I have to get a new microwave (the last one suffered some sort of trauma during the last move), but a new coffee maker as well. Just wanted to let you know that it's over between us. Even if you decide that you'd like to go back to producing coffee it'll be too late. The next time you see me I'll have a shiny new appliance in hand, maybe even one with a handy~dandy timer! You left me in my time of need. I'm so over you.

Proof that we went trick or treating...

I know it's a little blurry. Do you know how hard it is to get three boys to stand still long enough for a picture on the biggest candy day of the year? In the dark??

Proof that I've been knitting...

Yes, they don't match. I've been working on the mates though. Ok maybe not working on them, but I've been carrying them around in my new little bag. Wanna see?

Isn't it cute? I got it as a raffle prize at Kid n Ewe. Christine's mom makes them, so let her know if you'd like one of your very own! Not only is it good for sock projects, but it's perfect for carrying around what is fast becoming my newest habit...

Not sure why it's glowing like that, must be the way the sun was coming through the window.

I've been knitting on my Edie cardigan. I'm almost done with the back. I had to make some provisions for my larger gauge. Knitting math doesn't scare me nearly as much as it did when I first started :o)

Thanks for all your suggestions about how to handle comments. I've decided to move house, and have something in the works. I'll be here for a minute though...

Almost forgot! Look who's been knitting...

with Brooks Farm no less!!

Comments

Ok, I have another question for you all to think about while you are deciding if you want to knit with me. What's the best way to handle comments?

When I get comments I want to answer every single one. I get them emailed to me, but then if the commenter hasn't entered their email address into their blogger profile I can't reply. So then I say I'll do it in a minute because by now the baby is probably doing something he has no business doing. Then I forget. Then a week goes by and I figure the commenter probably forgot they ever commented in the first place!

So you see, I need a system. How about Haloscan? Or should I just move all together??

Care to knit with me?

Well we're back from Kid n' Ewe and a fun time was had by all. There was food and prizes and of course YARN! More about the outing and pictures of my haul (and boy did I score!) to come but for now I just have a question...

Would anyone care to knit this...

with me? It's the Edie Cardigan from the book Yarnplay. Leave me a comment or send me an email and we can get something started

A month??

Has it really been almost a month? Time flies when you're having fun I suppose. First off, Blogger hates me. There have been a couple of times when I've gone to post and I couldn't. Frustrating. Anyhow, I'm thinking of taking a friend up on his offer to help me move on over to wordpress.

Secondly, the cute kitty in my last post has got to go. My oldest son spend 2 days in the hospital last week after a particularly severe asthma attack. Now we've always known he's had asthma, had it since he was a baby, but it's never been this bad. He was on O2 for 2 days. Rewind about a month. We had him allergy tested and the results came back when he was in the hospital. He's got a pretty bad allergy to cats, which I find weird because he's been around them all his life and his asthma has never really been a *big* issue. We spoke with the Dr about it at his follow up and said if we want we can watch him closly and see if the cat sets him off (allergy wise). Since Phoebe the cat is the love of my life, the kitten has to go. Besides, I'm wondering if the kitten isn't causing a reaction that Phoebe never did?

*sigh* Anyone want a kitten??

I've got good news. I've been knitting AND I have pictures. However there is also some bad news...I can't find my camera. LOL! Since everyone is asleep and I don't want to chance a wake up by rustling around for it you guys will just have to wait until next time. I promise next time won't be another month. I WILL start posting more on a regular basis, especially if I move my blog.

For Soctoberfest I managed to finish 2 and a half socks. Too bad none of them match each other! I've also done a vest out of a Sirdar book, and Dumpling out of Rowan Babies. I've really got to finish some of this stuff I've started around here. Maybe that can be my New Year's resolution? I'd probaby be amazed at all the needles I own if I actually freed them all of their UFOs.

I've joined the Knitter's Coffee Swap and I'm pretty excited. I really like coffee. Coffee is right up there with yarn and chocolate :o) There are a few questions that were posted on the swap blog to make our partners' life a little easier so I'll go ahead and answer them here...

1. Whole bean or ground? ground. I would love a grinder of my very own!
2. Fully-loaded or decaf? Fully loaded.
3. Regular or flavored? Depends on what I put in it. Flavored creamer? Regular. Half and Half? Bring on the flavor!
4. How do you drink your coffee? With cream and sugar.
5. Favorite coffee ever? I don't know that I have a favorite. A friend bought me some Godiva once and it was really good.
6. Are you fussy about your coffee or will any old bean do? Not really fussy but I just *can't* do instant.
7. Favorite treats to have with your coffee? Muffins or cookies.
8. Anything else about your coffee preferences? Bold flavor, but not too bold!
9. What treats do you enjoy with your coffee?
10. Yarn/fiber you love? Smooth natural fibers that will give you a good stitch definition. I also like cotton and acrylic blends.
11. Yarn/fiber you hate? Novelty, nubbly, synthetics.
12. What's on your needles? Oh all kinds of stuff...a sweater, some socks, another sweater...
13. Favorite colors? Anything that's not flourescent.
14. Allergies? smoke, pollen.
15. Anything you really love, really don't like, or just need to get off your chest? Nope, just looking foward to getting something fun in the mail.

Kid n Ewe is this weekend. I'm pretty sure it's no MDS&W, or Rhinebeck for that matter, but I'm looking foward to it. The Brooks Farm folks are going to be there, and we're having a knitterly meet up with a lot of the same people from the Harlot's book signing back in July. So even though it's not one of the fancy~schmancy big name fiber festivals I will have a report for you complete with pictures on how it went.

Those of you that are off tomorrow, enjoy your long weekend. Get some knitting done and maybe have a beer :o)