candy stripes

Last night I had some nervous energy... which I put to good use and finished my lifesaver candy sock yarn.. although it no longer looks like lifesaver candy..I should probably rename it.
380 yards of hand dyed handspun blue faced leicester... I think this is the best skein of yarn I have ever spun. The yarn actually has a nice sheen to it that is not showing up in the pictures and is very soft. Now... I need to find the perfect sock patten for this lovely yarn.. I have a few patterns in mind.. I could make another pair of 'Vog on... or maybe Jaywalkers.. or Broadripple.. any way I'm still looking at sock patterns today... and there so are many.. I'm welcome to suggestions.. (^_^)

the unexpected..

My lifesaver candy fleece is life saver no longer.. this outcome was very unexpected... I had pictured something very different in my mind.. instead I have 240 yards of very colorful tweedy sock yarn.. I was aiming for a more solid stripe combo.. it has a lot of over spin.. I tend to spin lightly and found it hard to put extra spin on the singles... all in all I'm pleased with it and I have 2 more strips of roving to spin and ply which will give me about half the yardage of this skein.

progress... just a weee bit!!

One spool finished and 3 more to go.. I used 2 strips of the roving.. and will use 2 strips for each spool.. that give me to color repeats on each.. I know they wont match exactly there will be a little bit of difference in the yardage on each strip.. so I can hardly wait to ply to see whats going to happen..















Not much progress.. just a weee bit.. each row is taking longer and longer to complete and I'm on my 3rd repeat of chart 1 with 2 more repeats to go.. omy!!.. yes yes yes.. I know.. I'm knitting on horrible OLD straight metal needles.. with the sharpest points ever.. I don't think they make them that pointy anymore... the danger!!!... I LOVE them and will use them as long as the stitches will fit.. then I'll have to change to a circular... This yarn is so fine.. it's kind of a challenge just to knit with it ... for me anyway..
















A little Bassa Nova to spin by.. (Samba de una nota)

the prism

This little prism of color was on the kitchen floor today.. it really reminded me of the fleece that I just dyed and started to spin today. (baby toes)
















Here I separated it into thinner strips ... this picture was taken at night so the colors are a little off..
















And here it is .. the project of the day.. I'm really loving this so far... I'm hoping it will stripe after plying the way I think it will stripe.. that would be awesome..!!

cRazy sTuff...continued..

Start here....
















The set up....




















cooked and rinsed ... to be continued..!!

cRazy sTuff!

Project of the day:.. hum this could be a good idea or a bad one.. I'll know which in a bit..















Progress: My icarus shawl..(scroll down for the picture).. it doesn't look like it , but there is a whole lot of knitting there...this yarn is really fine and I'm using size 3 needles.. crazy!!!!... I have hit the first big color change.. yay!!.. I think that is what has been keeping me going.. what I don't like is that the stitch markers I'm using are creating a gap in between the stitches where they are placed.. and I'm not going to rip... I refuse.. so before I knit any more I'm going to make some fine stitch markers with some nylon beading wire and crimp beads...I think that should work.. also slipping the markers I'm using now so many times is starting to irritate my fingers... These were my preferred lace markers until now... I think this yarn is just too fine for them..

OOO baby

More baby knitting for me.. I made this little crochet sun hat for Abby. I think I crochet a little tight.. I went up a couple hook sizes and uses a thicker crochet cotton. I used J&P Coats Luster Sheen which is a sport yarn. I think it will fit but be a little too fitted.. I would have liked it to be a bit bigger.















Remember this..???.. I think I'm going to make a another for the new baby on the way. Maybe in a pretty green or cream soft wool this time.. I've been digging through my old baby knitting books and found a few nice patterns from the 80' that I think I will make also. This baby is due in January so it will need lots of hats and sweaters to keep it warm.. (^_^)

a little lace

I couldn't decide if I wanted the picot edging or not.. I did a little pre-try on .. and then I thought.. eh just do it..

















So I did.. and I'm happy I did it!! These are my first hand spun socks.. they are soft and light almost delicate.. very comfy... I'm pretty happy with them. The pattern would probably be better suited to a solid color yarn.. it would show off the pretty little lace pattern and the eye of the partridge heal a little better... but even with the variegated yarn they are still pretty.

















After much browsing on ravelry.. I decided on the Icarus Shawl for my Jojoland Harmony yarn. The reason I picked the Icarus Shawl is that most of it is almost mindless knitting .. and I kind of need some of that right now.. I'm hoping to make it with the one skein (880 yards).. I'm using a size 3 needles.. there it is in the picture.. just born.. now it has to grow... this yarn is wonderfully soft.. I can't wait for the next color to magically appear.

yay Kissimmee

Yay.. my internet is fixed.. finally.. after many calls and 2 repair visits.. I started to feel like it wasn't going to get fixed..
Anyway.. quite a few people have been wanting a sit and knit in Kissimmee.. there was a need and now there is a place. Incredible Needlers of Kissimmee has been born today.. there is the link for anyone needing a knit night out fix.. (^_^)

talk fast.. !!

I have to talk fast today so to speak.. I'm still having internet issues and the repair man is due to arrive very shortly... and who knows what will happen.. so I'm blogging as fast as I can while I have my intermittent internet.. yesterday I took that trip to my LYS Sip and Knit.. that I have been postponing .. and purchased that beautiful lace yarn I have had my eye on.. plus.. 2 balls of sparkly kid mohair on sale 50% off!!!.. She has gotten a big shipment in of yarn.. and oooo my!!!.. If I had a bundle to drop I sure would have dropped it big time in there yesterday.. the veriety of sock yarn alone made me feel dizzy.. then there was the gigantic amount of Noro yarn of all kinds.. I just love noro.. and did I tell you that she has a 15% off sale every Sunday in July... sigh.. I could have dropped a bundle in there I tell you..!!! I have my eye on a few sock yarns for the next trip.. not sure when I'll be able to afford more yarn..































Here are the projects that I worked on yesterday and will be working feverishly on today.. now I'm in a rush to complete these so I can cast on that lovely lace yarn.. I'm still deciding on the shawl that I will make.. there are a few that I like.. I wanted to make the Swallow tail shawl.. but I can't seem to get that pattern down and had to rip it a few times.. I'm still thinking about trying it again...... please excuse any mistakes.. I didn't have time to proof read this.. 0.0..!!

windows update alert!!

Finished little girls poncho... I'm not happy with the color combo though. The colors looked better before they were crocheted together.. or if i had added one more row of the purple at the bottom to balance the colors maybe I would be happier with it.














Anyway.. for the last few days my internet connection was going down hill.. to the point where I would disconnect every so often.. to disconnecting every few minutes.. I called my internet provider and they were able to send a tech out in a couple of days.. mean while I put up with the disconnections.. well the tech came and checked the modem and changed some of the older fittings outside.. the internet was up and going when he left.. 30 minutes later.. disconnect.. and it started getting worse and worse.. so I called my internet provider again.. and this time a tech wouldn't be able to come until Monday... ooo my.. so in between all my disconnections.. I read my email.. and came across this.. which said if you use zone alarms.. which I do .. and you updated your windows with the KB951748 update.. you could loose internet connection.. "ding"!! ( thats the sound of enlightenment)
Anyway I did as instructed and so far I haven't lost my internet yet.. I'm even able to blog this without waiting for long periods of lag.. so if you are having internet connection problems and you recently updated your windows and use zone alarms.. this could be your problem too!!

oo yes I did..

I have no discipline lately.. I see something and have to make it .. right now.. I saw a little poncho pattern from the lionbrand free patterns and dug up some leftover bits of yarn and have been crocheting away.. it's taking a little longer than I anticipated.. humm.. and my other ufo's are sitting around some where...















while I was browsing .. I also spotted these cute legging... and I have to have those too.. and the shoes and mini shirt.. !! 0.0.. I will probably make the legging with a different yarn.. something without the itch factor.. wool-ease is good for gloves.. but it has a little itch factor that might be uncomfortable for leggings.. something very durable too.. I have plenty of time to look for the right yarn.. I could only wear these in the dead of winter.. well...back to my crochet and watching the thunderstorm..

no air... no knitting!!

My air conditioner decided to stop working the other day.. it was a gradual thing.. so we sat here feeling hotter and hotter.. until my daughter said it felt really hot upstairs.. we looked at the thermostat and the little pointer was as high as it could go.. this was about 3pm in the afternoon... we called a few places and the soonest they could come out to look at it was the following morning... it was so hot.. I couldn't pick up my knitting for 2 days.. and it seemed like my brain shut down too.. I couldn't think... well the air conditioner was fixed the following afternoon and yes... it's wonderfully cool again.. and we are now horribly broke.. so much for getting that beautiful lace yarn I had my eye on at Sip and Knit.. it will have to wait..in the mean time I'm knitting again .. here is the progress..

Projects: 'vog on socks @ 65%














Razor cami @ 40%
















mystery project @ 20%

Happy 4th of July!!

Happy 4th of July..I just finished watching the John Adams .. the HBO film last.. It put me in a very patriotic mood and it reminded me of the integrity in which our nation and government was founded.. I highly recommend it.. John Adam worked through out his life for a better government for the people.. with great sacrifice to his own life and family... I thought it interesting that both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.. died on the same day ... which was the 4th of July..
While I was watching John Adams.. I was spinning away.. this skein was left over fleece from some other project some time ago.. it was dyed with kool-aid and had felted a little.. which left it a little crispy.. but I wanted to spin it up anyway... 87yds. of very light and airy medium weight yarn...














Here we have aqua girly purly.. the first skein was spun a year ago..0.0.. I guess I'm a sporadic spinner.. and the second skein was finished yesterday.. there is about 230 yards combined... and again .. I'm not sure what to do with it(time to scout around on ravelry).. possibly a scarf or shrug.. fiber content is undefined wool from the NYS fair an tensel.. it's a very soft light medium weight yarn.

and now there are 4...!!

Project finished..
To the far left is Pink bubblegum..95 yrds. of merino/corriedale
The next 2 skeins to the top is Pink taffy twist..140 yrds..below it is Pink taffy twist 169 yrds.. The natural skein to the right is 61 yrds.. which was spun to empty the spools.... In the Pink collection.. not sure what to do with it now.. (^_^)