Yes, sir, Cap'n Tight-Pants.

Shindig roving, I took my inspiration from the TV show Firefly. Based on Kaylee's fluffy layer cake dress. 2 braids, 5 oz total, Superwash wool, Sheep Shed Studios, Brown Sheep mill ends, Jaquard dyes, hand dyed by me. Here is the dress. Picture from http://www.costumersguide.com/

Second sock made on the trip to Branson, Feb. 2010. Yarn from the Two Windows Dye Co. from Yarns in Hutchinson, KS.

Haven't felt to good this last week. Monday was downright horrible, Tues. I at least felt good enough to make it up to Salina for lunch with a couple of the knit girls then to Stitch N Bitch. Wednesday was much better and I managed to finally get a few things done I've been meaning too. Today I'm feeling fairly crapy again. Ah, well, this too shall pass.

Here are some interesting links I've come across.

Just how big is a billion? Awesome picture of Earth at the end and a great quote from Carl Sagan.

39% Of Bagged Salad Is Gross, Some Has Poop - The Consumerist

For my knit buddies out there. Use variegated yarn for lace!

Am I done with Christmas already?

Seems like a few new people have been visiting this here little blog, probably because I've been interacting (commenting) on some new to me blogs. Who would have figured that is the way it works! It is good to get feedback on my blog too. I certainly haven't been serious about blogging, but I'm beginning to think that being serious might be the problem. I seem to make a big production about each post, which just stresses me out. If I just let the words flow without worrying about them being perfect things go much better. Adding depression into the mix just makes getting anything accomplished even worse. So, I'll try to keep things short and sweet but not perfect and see how things go.

I want to thank everyone who has stuck around for so long with such limited posting from me. And with very limited comments on their blogs! You know who you are. Specially Dana. It means a lot to me.

Karla came by today so I can finally show her and her son's Christmas gifts. For her son I used freezer paper to make a stencil and bleach instead of paint. Paint can fade and crack, though bleach is much easier to mess up. Specially with two sides!

Does anyone recognize the quote? It is words of wisdom from Xander on Buffy, the Vampire Slayer. I think he is my favorite character on that show, or Willow, or Oz, well, one of them anyway!

Rose's Wrist Warmers from Doctor Who. I used these notes for making the pattern using worsted wt. yarn. http://www.ravelry.com/projects/firespinner526/roses-wrist-warmers

Very involved cable pattern. There is cabling every row for the inside diamond pattern. Still very fun though. I would like to make me a pair if I could ever get around to it.

This is my leftover handspun I knit it from. Karla is a beginning knitter so I gave the rest to her so she could make a matching hat. Could probably get a cowl out of the leftovers too. I thought of making them for her myself, but really didn't know when I would get to it.

I'm working on posting some of my handspun yarn on my etsy shop. I'll let you guys know when it is done! And thanks for the interest!

New Jersey Bound

Headed to New Jersey to see hubby's family so I thought I would make a quick post to get caught up.  
Charity afghan squares for the Dr Who group on Ravelry, profits to go to Doctors without Borders, made with scrap sock yarn.

Chain Chomp Hat (rav link), made for Danny (pictured).  Chain chomp is from the Mario video games, basically a big ball and chain with eyes and teeth that tries to eat you.  

My first hand spun yarn all dyed up!  Joined Karen at her guild dye day and had loads of fun!  Was a very poor blogger and forgot to take my camera.  I used acid wash dyes, but most of the ladies used natural dyes, I learned so much.  Met many great ladies, I will probably join that guild, I want to repeat the experience.  I only dyed 2 skeins, but wanted to show all the colors off, that is why there are so many pictures.





Guess who wanted to be in the pictures too?


New member of the family.  He is supposed to keep Zoey company, to bad Zoey is afraid of him. No, Dana, he name isn't Wash, but trust me, if he had been an orange cat, he would have been. As he isn't I let Techpriest name him.  So, of course, his name is Japanese.   Takun (Tock coon), from FLCL(fooly cooly) an anime show.   

I'm going to post an email hubby sent to his Dad, it is so true.

Zoey is opera.  When she is given food she looks at it and walks away.  She comes back to it later and eats it, just to be polite.  She sharpens her claws on the cardbox we gave her, she was not taught that, she just knew.  When we let her out she watches nature and when we call, she comes back in.

Takun, Tock for short, is heavy hetal.  When given food he eats it as fast as he can, growling the whole time.  He sharpens his claws on the furniture.  I am afraid when he is old enough to let out he will rob a liquor store.

While typing this I have my shirt off because it is a little warm in here.  Tock just jumped off another chair and landed on my back, dug in his claws and bit my head.

Faren had a dream that I wanted to take him back.  I told her it wasn't me, it was Zoey whispering in her ear while she was asleep.  "Send it back.  Send it back."

The last few days have been quite something, let me tell you!  Well, I'm going to go for now, I'll be back in a week, hopefully I'll have some new yarn porn to show you all.

New Obsessions

I have been having a lot of fun lately.  Well, when my headaches haven't been too bad I've been having fun.  Monday Karen and I went to Lawrence to the Yarn Barn.  What should have been a 2 1/2 hr drive took about 4 hrs because of the weather.  Torrential downpours (and I do mean torrential) and nickel size hail made us wonder if we were going to make it to Lawrence.  We were actually lucky, not very far away from us there was baseball sized hail!  We stopped at Ottawa for an early lunch so hopefully the weather would pass on by. When we left the restaurant it looked like it had stopped, but after a couple of blocks the rain started again, worse than before!  Could not see a thing, so we stopped along main street till it finally cleared up.  We were only 20 miles from Lawrence and we were determined we were going to get there.  Karen had Christmas shopping to do, buying yarn for all her Christmas projects.  She bought a lot of yarn!  And don't you feel jealous she is already that far ahead?  

Me, I  was determined I was going to come home with a spinning wheel.  Tried all of them out, from the cheaper ones to the ones I knew I couldn't afford.  Majacrafts are nice!  I was really hoping though that the one that looked like the best match for me on paper would live up to my hopes of it.  At first it had a squeak I really didn't like, but oiled it up and it was a dream.  And they had the color I wanted.  I got home at 8:30, 12 hours after I left the house, I really over did it that day.  The headache told me so, specially the next day.  After I rested I had to put it together, with help from techpriest to pound in the legs, while I held them in place.  Started about 9:30, finished at 10:30.  Take a look at this beauty!


A Kromski Minstel, walnut finish.  Isn't she pretty? 


Single on the left, first finished plied yarn on MY wheel on right.  



I have been thinking about a name for her.  The first two I came up with were Kaylee from Firefly(same show where Zoey got her name) and Willow from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  Well, it has to be from some Sci-Fi/Fantasy show, doesn't it?  Those are the two I identified with the most from those shows.  But right now I am also obsessed with Doctor Who (though that one isn't very new) so was wondering about picking a name from there.  Rose, Martha, Donna?  Though I love the Donna character, the name just doesn't seem to fit.  What do you guys think?  Which one would you pick?  Or do you have another name I should consider?  Ann liked Willow, but she hasn't heard about the others.  

My other new obsession is lace.  I am knitting Convertible (rav link) and it is so much fun.  It is my first lace project but it hasn't been too bad so far.  I will cross my fingers though.  The repeats are over 13 stiches and 12 rows, with ever even row purled.  

Zoey, of course, had to help take pictures.  Her tail is in the picture up above, and there she is below glaring at the camera.  Some of the closeups I had to take without flash because it was so bright.






The pattern calls for button holes on either side and uses cufflinks (buttons sewed together) to hold it closed.  That's great, but I knew I would loose those first chance I got.  That was holding me back from starting it, but looking through all the ravelry projects on it I found one that solved the problem I thought.  She had crocheted buttons for it with the same yarn.  I thought it was brilliant.  Almost invisible and you can do it as you go along.  Yeah, not quite.  She sewed them on after she finished knitting it.  Well, that doesn't mean I can't do it, right?  I found a pattern for them online, struggled with making two (it was quite a pain in the pattotie) when I realized I had forgot the buttonholes on the other side! Aggh!  But, in the meantime, the ladies at knit night at Yarns had given me a brilliant suggestion.  A bobble.  Why wouldn't a bobble work as a button?  So simple, so brilliant!   I would have never have thought of it!  So started over again and having lots of fun.  

Hopefully I'll talk to you again soon!

Why yes, we did buy a new camera.

Why do you ask?
Here is the afghan, Zoey thinks it is comfy.


So pretty!


It is kinda hard to see the basketweave, but it sure is pretty, though the 8 ends I had to weave in sure wasn't!


Love this one too.


Zoey was holding the afghan down for me, she is such a helper!


The back side, you can clearly see the whip stitch.


Front side, doesn't look to bad I think.


Weasley sweater ornaments, this one is for Dad. I plan on making 20 of the little suckers, good thing they are so quick!


Mom's ornament.


Left to right: my brother(Nathan's Daddy), our Dad, our Mom, and she is holding Nathan of course.


Mom and Nathan. Miranda had a party for her mother's 50th birthday. We all had lots of fun and chocolate cake.





Chewing on the camera strap.


Techpriest found a cat website, that is a little bat flying around.


Who threw out a perfectly good kitty?

And her name is Zoey

Hey all, thanks for all the good names, but I decided on Zoey. She is actually a pretty sweet little cat. She cuddles with us and plays with us and is starting to explore the house. More because she will "lose" us and then we play marco polo until she finds us again. She also will hear me coming in the door and will run to greet me and meow until I pick her up, very cute.

Speaking of cute, I picked this up at the Yarn Barn in Lawrence while we were there for my cousin's wedding. Great place, I had a hard time deciding what to get, but finally choose this beautiful koigu, since Yarns in Salina doesn't carry it.


I've been wanting to get some non wool sock yarn and almost got some Tutfooties (sp?) at the Yarn Barn. I'm so glad I didn't. Because this was waiting for me at Twist in Wichita.

The color(wisteria) drew me first, I picked it up and thought "Hey, wait a minute. Sugar Bunny Boulevard? I know her!" Then I really had to get it, THEN I noticed it was a bamboo/cotton/nylon mix, and I knew it was destined for me. I haven't knitted it yet, but it is nice and soft and springy and so pretty, I love it Laura!

And this is my contribution to the Yarn Harlot's quest to get a square from every state and providence. Knowing my luck she probably already has ten of the silly things. Pattern from here. I did change it a little so that Kansas actually looks like a rectangle with a bite taken out like it is supposed to. Can you see it? Squint your eyes and turn your head. The state is at the top and KS is at the bottom. You really can see it good in real life. Wonderful yarn (isn't it pretty? I love knitting with this stuff) from here. Oh, no, she doesn't have any yarn for sale! Go back through her sold items and take a look at her yarn, so pretty.

Ah, no, it is NOT a willy warmer, why do you ask? It is supposed to be a golf club cover for Techpriest's uncle. I made him one last year and do not remember it looking like this. Oh, well, since I didn't notice it till I took the picture, maybe he won't notice it at all. Got the pattern from Lion Brand's website, hopefully the link will actually take you the right page.

The seaming party for the Greensburg project is on Sat and the Yarn Harlot is Sun. I think I might print up a few cards with my blog address on them, wonder if it will actually happen? Don't think I'll have anyone to go with me, but I'll still have loads of fun. I'm going up to Salina tonight, see if any of those ladies can make it. And I kinda miss them, I haven't been driving up there since the knitting group here got started. I also need to see about buying some yarn for a pair of fetching for Techpriest's Aunt (wife of the uncle who is getting the phallic symbol for Christmas) and yarn for the little Weasley Sweater ornaments from Charmed Knits. No link, I'm holding the kitty, and I'm also just plain linked out. I didn't tell you I bought that, did I? It was during my blogging hiatus. Good book, if you want more info, just holler at me.

Well,until next time, true believers....

(yes, we do watch Who Wants to be Superhero, how did you guess?)

S stand for

Hey all, I was planning on posting last weekend....yeah, that worked. I did take all the pictures and got them in the computer, just never blogged about them!

STOCKING
First up is Nathan's Christmas Stocking. This was the project for the Intarsia class I took at Yarns. Another great class with a great teacher and good people. The teacher has knit 30 of these stockings for all of her family. I'm debating on whether to do the same or change charts for every person. What do you all think? The teacher was given this pattern from the lady she learned to knit from, who got it from her grandmother....I think, it was a cool story anyway.



Kinda cute, isn't he? Hasn't been blocked, I'm sure you could tell. I hope blocking gets rid of some of the wonkiness, but I'm not going to worry about it. If I feel like knitting him another one 5 years from now, fine, but not anytime soon. Want to see the back? Here ya go.

I shouldn't have carried the red across his hat and face, but I missed that note on the chart, but I did look! I kept thinking that it would be easier if I didn't have to worry about the red, but that didn't clue me in. That was around the point I wanted to take a picture of all the bobbins hanging down and bitch to you all. I wasn't sure I would ever knit intarsia again. I think I'm good now though. Oh, and notice the knot? The teacher did that after saying adamantly both classes I've had with her "NO KNOTS!" There is always an exception to every rule, isn't there? This was actually a nice, quick knit after I figured out what I was doing.

Pattern: Grandma Chan's Christmas Stocking
Yarn: Galway worsted weight 210 yds in color 1, 44, and 82 (love those color names, doncha?)and the yarn store gave each of us a little ball of black
Needles: Knitpicks options size 8 (why has everything I've knit lately needed an 8?)

SCARF
Next up, Techpriest's Dr. Who scarf. I have been knitting on this thing for at least a couple of years. It wasn't too long after I started knitting.

Yeah, it looks like a mug shot, don't it? Techpriest is apparently one of those people that doesn't smile for pictures, though he did offer to pose for me. And yes, we know that in the show the scarf was much, much longer, we both decided our version didn't need to be able to wrap around his neck quite so many times, I ended up using less than half the pattern they provide. This is the only thing he has asked me to knit for him (I have done some sewing for him though), so I'm glad I finally got it done. When he first thought of it, we thought we would have to rent the old Dr. Who series and try to figure the pattern out for ourselves. On a whim though I decided to google Doctor Who scarf, this is proof that you can find anything on the internet. I used the pattern from season 18, it was the one we both remembered Dr. Who wearing. I wish I had found darker colors to match better.




What's wrong with this picture? The end on the very left is the bind off, the orangish end next to it is the cast on...what happened? I did buy new skeins of yarn, but I swear it was the same yarn, was it that I changed needles from a Susan Bates size 8 to a Knitpicks size 8? Yeah, there is that 8 again. Did my tension just loosen up that much over the years? Odd, but I'm not gonna do a thing about it. I'm not one of those perfectionist knitters am I? I'm just glad it is done. I think I'm halfway between a process knitter and a project knitter. If I didn't like the process I wouldn't do it, but I certainly want that project at the end, and if the end takes to long to get here I get antsy.

Pattern: Season 18 Dr. Who Scarf from www.doctorwhoscarf.com
Yarn: TLC worsted in Dark Plum, Red Heart worsted in Burgundy and Claret. I don't want to hear it, there are some(ok, one or two) projects Red Heart is ok for. I had just started knitting, I was broke, and this is a huge project, it works for this.
Needles: Started with a Boye size 8 from the needlemaster set, then went to Knitpicks options 8. So, so much better, they are worlds apart.

I think I'm gonna stop there, though I still have a lot to catch up on. Two more FO's and yarn p*rn, next on Faren's Lair!