Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Free shipping on Halloween Yarn

In honour of Happy Orange Day
(click for linky link)

Boo

Pumpkin

CandyCorn

and
Antelope Firemist


Free shipping today only.

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Orange Day

Today was orange day at school--since Princess B won't actually be at school for Halloween.
Good thing her Mother is obsessed with orange.
(She has never actually worn these clothes before because, "Mom, they aren't pink")


She won first place for the most orange. Oh, and she is doing that thing with her hand and has orange stripes on her face because as we were walking out the door she decided she wanted to be "a lion".
She also participated in her first assembly today. The JK's sang all their fall songs and the Grade 1's did a dance to the Jackson 5's "Blame it on the Boogie" (hilarious)

I finished the Merlin the Cat batt spinning and present:

Orange Tang Yarn
the name of the batt was "Orange Tang" and the white spots glow in the dark.
I am so excited--these need to be socks. I was thinking for Halloween, but since that's tomorrow I don't think I'll make it.
I might make 1 sock and just do that to be funny.
We are going to a Halloween party tomorrow night with friends and might do some outside stuff--so that might work.
p.s. there is no way to take an accurate picture of the beauty that is this yarn. I take no credit as it is the blending of the fibres that make it so pretty.
There are differing shades of orange, pink sparkle, purple and other bits that make it shine.
There is a pretty picture here:

I am 7 rows away from making this into something that doesn't look like a blob:


This is the Baby Surprise Jacket that has been kicking my butt for a week. It's a really tricky pattern but once you figure it out it sort of works.
We'll see how it looks finished.

So, we are off to a dinner/networking/playdate for me/hubby/thekids.

Some halloweeny pictures tomorrow.

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Oh Brother


I hated Home Economics. They made omelettes, I made a fried egg with a lump of cheese in the centre. They made chocolate chip muffins, I mixed up the measurements for sugar and salt and ended up with 2 dozen muffins with 2 cups of salt (think wallpaper paste meets paper weight). They made shorts, I made...shorts. While the sewing wasn't so bad, I certainly never cared for it. I made a dress in high school and hated every minute of it.
Fast forward a few years (no I am not telling you how many) and this summer I starting thinking how nice it would be to have a sewing machine in the house for quick mending and basic sewing projects. I certainly didn't want to buy one but if I got one from freecycle it would be nice. I was pondering this aloud when my aunt remarked she had an old one belonging to my late Grandmother Violet and it was mine if I wanted.
Behold this beauty!















What a treasure I would find inside though. The original warranty, the sales slip showing Grandpa paid $70.04 for a new sewing machine in 1965, the credit slip showing he paid $10 a week for it, and the instructions.

















I opened it up this afternoon, plugged it in, threaded the needle and bobbin and gently pressed the foot pedal and ... it worked, it worked perfectly! It was so easy and wonderful! I grabbed a scrap of fabric my mil gave me and sewed my first line

Then I ran for the mending basket that grows and never gets attended to and fixed my hubbo's sleep pants

Fixed these sweaters


And turned 2 old sweaters into bags
































Just what I needed, a new obsession.

I love Aspen

Okay, so I've never been there--but I love this colourway.

I posted this to the Spunky Club Club page (Club club??) but forgot to post it here.

This is my first Spunky Eclectic Club shipment and my first time spinning Merino/Tencel.



I tried to spin it as thin as I could and my plying went wonky--but I'm still loving it


I was trying a new method of plying that Abby demonstrates in a YouTube video here:
It wasn't working for me so I switched back and so there are parts that are underplied

The tencel took a little getting used to, but it was fun.

Can't wait to see this months fibre

Friday, October 26, 2007

What have I been up to?

Well.

I made an apple pie

It was soooo good


There has been some dyeing this week

(I put my shop Etsy mini back on the sidebar so you can see some pretties)--for fibrefriday.
and I had 3 sales today. Whoopee.

This is "BOO"



My sister's store has a scarf in it--you should see it.. The other one she made sold out the first day.

I have been spinning:
Some silk from the Lime and Violet Store

and I just got this yesterday:

Some glow in the dark spinning batts from Merlin the Cat. The white parts actually glow in the dark. How cool is that? Glow in the dark socks, here I come.
I finished one batt last night before I crashed.

Little man is still getting up at O'dark thirty: 4:30am this morning--and he WILL NOT go back to sleep.
My brain is fried..I'm so tired.
Today he actually fell asleep on the couch by 10am;


I am coping with this:

Supersized homemade cappucinos. I don't make it through the morning w/out one.

So, there has been some knitting on the baby surprise jacket. That EZ sure is a kidder--her pattern is nuts and it's making me nuts.
I think it will work out in the end but boy-oh-boy you really can't be sleepy when you are knitting on this thing.

I have at least 2 more of these to make--so I'm sure I'll become used to the way that it looks and know what I'm doing at some point.

I will leave you with 2 more pretties from my store:
FALLEN LEAVES:

and
PUMPKIN


Enjoy!!

Rhinebeck.

So maybe we can get enough Canadians to go to Rhinebeck together and start an invasion? Looks like Rhinebeck (New York Sheep and Wool) is scheduled for October 18 & 19, 2008. Lots of time to plan and save some money. Put it on your calenders!

I hate this cold

I feel yucky today. It is a beautiful fall day, sunny, fairly warm, and I cannot enjoy it at all. My nose is red, my head is stuffy, and I ache all over. I want a hot bath and a nap. I think once I get my errands done, I will do just that.
On a positive note, That Seventies Scarf from the past post sold in just one day. I am so excited about that, so my mandetory errand today is to mail it to Rome, Italy. I have posted a new scarf That Seventies Scarf-The Blues today- go and take a peek.
Off to drink more tea and wrap my scarf for mailing.

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

What I didn't do last weekend

Rhinebeck.
Wanted to go too.
Actually googled it for directions.
Could have made the trip in 6 hours. My hubbo actually gave me the go-ahead. Calculated when I would have to leave Saturday am (4am) to make the day worthwhile. Imagined taking the 5 year old to see sheep and bunnies and lots of yarn.
Sandly had to close the google map and put away til next year.
Hey sprouty, wanna go fondle yarn next year? We will drive Friday night, stay in some cheap moth-ridden hotel to save money for yarn and fibre. We can hang with the Harlot and Jess from Ravelry. I feel like a drug pusher.
Rhinebeck.
Wanted to go too.

It's the most wonderful time of the year

It's that time of year again


It's time for Fake-Rhinebeck. For Karrie

First off here is a picture of the cute little room I stayed in:


and the haul:


The yarn--beautiful hand-dyed from here.

The handspun, from my favourite seller.

There was fibre:


and fleece (Mohair locks)

some soap:

and food:

*pumpkin pizza--see the little pumpkin face*

and there was knitting:

This is the progress I made on the Baby Surprise Jacket.

All in all it was a great weekend and I can't wait to do it next year!

Okay, so I didn't go to Rhinebeck. I've oogled pictures on everyone's blog and their flickr.
It sounded amazing and I'd love to go someday.
Someday.

Monday, October 22, 2007

Natural handspun

Me again.
I give you, the natural handspun:

From left to right:
Marigold, "Mysterious Red Leaf", Mixed, Fiddlehead Fern, Coffee

I plied half of each of the Marigold and MRF (Myseterious Red Leaf) together for the middle skein. It's different and I like it.

I think it will make a nice little jacket. I have to finish the "test" one first.

Knitting is not going well right now. My wrists are sore and i can't tell if it's from falling, or from not sock knitting--I haven't knit on big needles in a while.
I'm trying to only knit a little bit at a time, but I had a project to finish for someone special
(pictures when finished)--so it needed to be done.

I'm going to try to take it easy and start wearing my brace again (the right one is the worst, it will fall asleep after about 4 rows of knitting and spinning isn't better)

Here is the latest from my dyepot, in the store:


It's call RED BARN and it's BFL--sooo soft.

So, that's about all for now.
I hope to have a FO picture tomorrow.

I am going to try some spinning tonight--I'm almost finished my Spunky Eclectic Club Merino/Tencel.

That Seventies Scarf


It is sunny and gorgeous today. Here it is October 22nd when we should be expecting frost and a first snow, and Giraffe went to school again in shorts and a t-shirt. Crazy.
So I took advantage of the sun and got out in my backyard and took my photos of some of my FO. I finally posted my scarf, kindly named by sprouty That Seventies Scarf. I love the colours and length of it. It is in the shop finally. I have 3 more to post in different colours and with different fibres.














I also posted this set named JillAnn



I am thrilled with this weather. No mud, no snow, no lost mittens, no slush. I am wearing a tank top and jeans, and was actually uncomfortable standing in the sun on the back deck. But my sweaters are calling, still tucked into my closet. Soon enough I am sure.
What is your favorite part of fall? Giraffe is loving the leaves on the ground and is counting the days til Hallowe'en. Hubbo's swim season is in full swing. Me it's sweaters, wool socks, tea

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Oh oh it's raining again...

I have the song in my head right now. We have had so much rain and dark skies in the last few days I have been unable to get any natural light to photograph some new finished objects to post here and in my shop. I am frustrated! As they are knit with bright and darker colours, when I snap a pic inside it turns out dark and the colours all smush together. Maybe tomorrow...
So to keep myself busy I have cast on a camo hat for Giraffe. He is going as GI Joe for Hallowe'en. We have the camo shirt and shorts to go over the sweats, an army helmet (made from styrophome and not hard) a rifle and camo makeup. Grand total cost so far- $4. I am so stingy I squeek. The makeup was $3 and the rifle $1. The helmet we bought a couple of years ago for SWAT man (he is such a boy)at Goodwill for 99c. I have a neighbour who only buys storemade costumes and for her 4 kids spends over $100/year just for the costumes. I'll stick with my $4.
The only photo I can list is a teaser for "That 70's scarf" just so you can see the colours:

Well Giraffe and I are off to lunch and then the library with Daddy. With the rain the zoo is out. But on a positive note, the hubbo is taking me out for our anniversary tonight. Note- our anniversary was in June. That is how often we go out just the 2 of us. Looking foward to it, need to pick out something nice to wear. Later.

Friday, October 19, 2007

Natural Dye update

I have finished spinning all the fibre that I dyed with the natural dyes.
(No pictures of the spinning today as hubby is gone for the weekend and took the camera which holds the pictures).

(edit: Hubby is home so these are the pictures of the unspun rovings)

Overall I am happy with the results.
From left to right: Coffee (with little bits of grounds still in it), Fiddlehead Fern, Marigold, Mysterious Red Leaf (which looked like dishpan grey but now is growing on my and I think is actually pretty)

I decided to ply a 1/2 ounce of Marigold yellow with 1/2 ounce of the 'mysterious red leaf" dyeing together to tone down the grey-ish ness of the one section of roving. I'm not sure in the end that it was needed, but it will give some nice contrast to the rest of the jacket.

Oh, I forgot to mention that I'm going to knit a baby surprise jacket for the Spinning Guild Tree.
(The event is the Festival of Trees where organizations/groups make a Christmas tree with various items--ours will be handspun--this years theme is "Green", hence the natural dyeing)

I bought a pattern from a very nice Yarn Shop Owner that I found through a round-about way
(and if anyone is interested in purchasing this pattern, send me an e-mail and I'll fill you in)

So, I decided to give the pattern a try--to be sure I know what I'm doing and also as a friend of mine just had a baby girl.
So today, amidst the cold and rain and the start of a nasty cold--I cast on.

I have heard that this pattern is a bit tricky and already, 2 inches in, it's kicking my butt.
I've frogged back about 3 times.
EZ is a genius but the way this pattern is written is, interesting.

Cast on 160 stitches...
do the decreases.
add some stitches at the same time as decreasing....blah blah
my stitch count goes off every time at that point.
hm...

anyways, it will be pretty and maybe I should just take a cue from the harlot and not knit while feeling like your head is full of fluid and you are sneezing to scare your children.

I hope to have a nice big dent in this project to show by the time hubby gets back Sunday.
Then he's gone Monday all day again....
If I didn't have my knitting/spinning I don't' know what I'd do!!!

So when hubby is home I will get the pictures off the camera and then take more of the finished yarns.

Psssst

New stuff in my shop

Thursday, October 18, 2007

PINK FOR THE CURE

I will be posting some yarn and spinning fibre in my store tomorrow, but wanted to share this one:


This is a merino/tencel blend that I am calling :
PINK FOR THE CURE.

This is for My Mom, Grandmothers, Aunts and Sister who have experienced Breast Cancer.
$2 from each skein will be donated to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation

It's for a good cause, so go buy some Pink yarn, it's in the shop right now.

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

New Podcast Alert

Crazy talented Vickie Howell will soon be starting her own podcast:


Woohoo--can't wait for it. Am excited.