Weekend Update

Saturday I was treated to another birthday celebration.  Deb had the twins and me over to her house where she made us lunch, served a very yummy home made Grandma cake and provided entertainment.  She has an excellent recap as well as fab pictures!  She gave me two skeins of Koigu KPPPM for my birthday in a beautiful colorway.  Thanks Deb for everything! 

I brought my little gem with me over to her house and spun some of the hand painted merino that I bought in MD this year.  It is the peachy color stuff at the back of the pile here.  I got to look at these pictures more often as I totally forget what I have!  Kat has requested a sweater out of it, and with 1.5lbs, I can probably oblige her.  Doing the quick fold-back-on-self method of measuring, it will probably result in a 14wpi cushy merino yarn.  I wasn't able to get a good picture last night, but am close to finishing a second bobbin.  I put in about an hour on the second bobbin last night as Sundays are for spinning (along with Tuesdays).

On the Schacht, I've been working on the first bobbin of hand dyed BFL from Painted Skeins in the Stone Fruit Sunrise color.  I bought this fiber right after the last issue of Spin Off inspired me to approach hand dyed in a different way than is normal for me.  The Spunky Tulips I spun as per my old approach:  divide the roving into half and then just spin each half, ply together.  I love the yarn, but the results were a bit odd.  I'm split this BFL in half and am spinning it as is.  The other half will probably be split in thirds.  It is almost spinning itself.

I'm showing a bit of consistency in the colors that are drawing me in right now.  No longer the pink/brown/cream of the Neapolitan that held me in its grip for so long, but now the orange/yellow/pink/purples have me. 

Witness the Lorna's Monkey Sock in Bittersweet has those exact colors as well. I can also count two other sock yarns currently in the yarn basket that have the same colors too.  I'm going to have me some brightly colored socks!  I hit the heel on this sock this morning and one stop before mine on the PATH, I pulled the needle on the flap.  I took it back to the last circular round and have decided to reduce stitch count and do a plain foot.  I'm not a huge fan of patterns on the foot (cabled socks notwithstanding) and thanks to my good friend Ms. Right Ankle, I wear closed shoes a lot.  The texture both annoys the foot and is lost inside the sneaker.  It just makes more sense to do a plain foot.

Speaking of the sock yarns, I noticed that my basket is overflowing...

This basket is almost entirely sock yarn.  There may be a couple of skeins of lace weight in there for fun (including that yummy cashmere purchased at MASW), but really, it is almost entirely sock weight.  It should also be noted that this is not by far all the sock yarn.  There is a chest at the end of my bed that also contains a goodly amount of the stuff and honestly, that floor full that I flashed during the packing to move last year is still in a box in the basement.  There are probably a few skeins not in any of the aforementioned locations as well, and no way includes the box in my closet of leftovers that can either grow to be socks for the twins or get reused somehow in a scrappy blanket.

See that cone of yarn behind the CD and next to the basket?  That coffee with cream color?  That is a cone of 1/36NM cash/silk from Colourmart that is now the lead contender for the WRS.  I swatched it Friday night and really love it.  I'll have to get a good picture of it (camera batteries were dead and I honestly forgot about it last night when rounding up other shots) but having shown both the Lacis and the Colourmart swatches to first Deb and then Mom, we all agree that the cash/silk is the one.  I'm ready.  I'm ready. 

I really am getting closer to ready to cast on for that shawl.  MS3 is no longer one of my loves.  I'm really at a loss as to what to do with it.  I finished Clue 4 in plenty of time for 5.  The theme was revealed on Friday, as I'm sure you all know by now.  It is Swan Lake.  A beautiful theme, but the remaining part of the stole is going to form a wing.  A wing?  Ugh.  I decided to sit back and let others knit this so I can see what it looks like.  Having now seen it, I can't say as I like it.  Sure there's two more clues after this one and who knows what the edging is going to look like, but I really don't like it so far.  There is a stated alternative to knit clues 1-4 again and graft in the middle.   Except I'm not that enamoured with the rest of it and really don't want to knit it again.  I'm torn now between ripping the thing out entirely or creating my own ending for it.  At least it has all be very fast to knit so if I do rip, I don't feel as if I've wasted a lot of time.  Blech.

Either way, it is in timeout and I'm going to move forward on Tina, 7 repeats of the 9.5 are now done and finally cast on for WRS.  Though... there's always a though isn't there?... I'm tempted to use a slightly heavier cobweb (snicker - J&S 1-ply) and knit the Bridal Shawl as a warm up for WRS.  Decisions decision.

I did get over the inertia of which piece of lace to knit by casting on a baby sweater for my new niece.  It is the Simple Stripes Baby Sweater in the Dream in Color yarns. I've finished the first two stripes.  Sweet little sweater.  I'll probably use some of the leftover to knit her the Saartje's Bootees(pdf).  Those things are sooooo cute.

I'm tired today.  Kat crawled into my bed sometime during the night after I turned in and proceeded to have an accident.  Ugh.  1:14AM and I feel wet.  She's standing on the bed crying.  I get her changed, grab my pillow and head to her room.  She curls up in the usually spot on the floor and I took her bed.  Glad I got her a nice bed :)  Not quite as cushy as my pillow-top dream, but comfy enough.  Oh well.

Dad took Alex for a haircut on Thursday.  Got another summer buzz cut (timely too as the weather has been beastly hot).  I love this cut on him!

Deb is right, they don't look like toddlers anymore.  I blinked.

FOUR MORE DAYS!

Craft on!!

Comments

[Kim]

As usual you are a busy bee. I love the creamy coffee color for the WRS. It's funny how one day the kids suddenly don't look like babies/toddlers anymore. Lanky suntanned summertime KIDS! I remember when that happened with Liam. What a shock.

[Sarah]

I'm so glad to see someone else's sock stash -- sometimes I feel like mine is totally out of control, and it's nice to see that I'm not the only one whose basket is overflowing. ;-)

The yarn you're spinning is beautiful! I am really, really feeling the pull of the wheel, and I think that this fall/winter one of my goals will be to learn to spin. Like I need another hobby...

[Dorre]

I think I am suffering from sock yarn envy! Alex looks sooo cute (and big) ;)

[Jessica]

Goodness that is a bit of sock yarn! Have you figured out how many pairs worth you have? When I did that with my variegated stuff, it made me a little frightened. I highly recommend *not* doing it! ;)

[Amy]

You really need some help with all of that lovely sock yarn. Send it to me :D Just kidding!

Alex looks fabulous with his grown up hair cut! My son has lost a lot of his toddler chubbiness recently. It shocks me every time I look at him and see just how much he has grown.

[--Deb]

I like the colors of those socks so much better in person, too. In fact, they look fabulous in person (and went great with your outfit). Glad the cash-silk is in the lead, that swatch was PRETTY.

The basket of sock yarn? I think I recognize those two skeins up on the top . . . it was fun on Saturday!

[janna]

Alex looks like such a *boy* with that haircut!

And, you know, I'm looking forward to knitting the wing on MS3. Of course, I'm nowhere near that far along....

[fleegle]

I'm happy to see somebody with more sock yarn than me! Hot socks you got there too! and I really want to see your swatches for the WRS. Hurry up!