Mikknit

After some consternation when we couldn’t find the cable for my mom’s camera, I found a suitable substitute in with Chris’s computer stuff. So without further ado, I bring you the mystery project:

Peace Shawl, designed by Evelyn Clark for Fiber Trends. Knit in Skacel Merino Lace on various needles.

Another view of the shawl, modeled by my mom.

This was probably a more complicated lace project than I should’ve chosen for my first shawl, but it was well worth the time it took to knit. I started this in late February 2004 and finished it on May 2, 2007. I’m thrilled with how it turned out, though I don’t think I understood just how ethereal it is - it was really difficult to photograph. I wish I’d gotten a picture of it while it was blocking, as the different patterns showed up a lot better against the black background that was the blocking board (interlocking foam floor mats).

As I mentioned yesterday, I will be wearing the shawl to Shepherd’s Harvest tomorrow. I can’t wait to see everyone! And shop, too, of course.

Now there are wild animals children running rampant under the clothesline and trying to pull the clothes down. I should probably put this away and intervene, in the interest of not having to re-wash everything.

I still haven’t found the camera. I want to cry. I can’t figure out where it could possibly be - I have checked every. single. place. it could possibly be and several places where it has no business being. Predictably, it was not in any of those places. Even a reward of chocolate wasn’t enough to make the kids help me find it!

I’m going to have to borrow my mom’s camera for this weekend, I think. Being without access to a camera is really cramping my style, not to mention making for poor blog fodder.

Also cramping my style is the fact that my hands are in a ton of pain lately. I have no idea what’s causing it, but since it hurts to knit I am not able to resort to my favorite stress-reliever for more than a few minutes at a time. So not cool. I bought some worsted-weight wool at Borealis the other day and will be starting on a pullover for Grace, hopefully it’s just fatigue from working with small yarn and small needles, or small yarn and not-so-small needles (i.e. lace).

In the meantime, this weekend is Shepherd’s Harvest and I’m taking the Creative Drum Carding class on Saturday. I’m really excited about this, as well as the opportunity to shop and hang out with friends. There’s going to be a space set up for spinners and knitters to hang out and work/socialize in Building D, so maybe do people want to meet there around 2 or so? I saw that more than a few of the MN knitbloggers were planning to attend and it’d be great to see you all.

I’ll be wearing my mystery project, which I should be able to share with you tomorrow. Either my camera will appear as if by magic, or I’ll borrow my mom’s.

I can’t find the bloody camera! It’s a lovely day outside and I have time to take a picture and make a post but I can’t find the danged camera anywhere. I am NOT amused.

Oh yes, I just went and quoted The Steve Miller Band. It is clearly too late for me to be up. My punishment? Having “Fly Like an Eagle” stuck in my head for the next 4 days. I’m going to cry.

So last weekend when I posted, I said I’d be back the following day to post some more pictures or something. So here I am more than a week later with no pictures for you. Sorry. I blame the long-term project I mentioned in that post. And also the danged kid having a birthday - I had to go and throw him a party and make a cake and stuff. Good thing he’s cute!

I am currently within sight of the end of that project, with about 14 more pattern repeats and a couple other things, and then the magic of blocking. I hope it’ll be done within the week, since Grace is heading off to do big kid things with my aunt this week and I’ll only have Arlo here. Since he can’t fight with himself (oh, but I’m sure he’ll try) I may get some time to knit here and there. While the majority of this project is not the sort of thing I could knit with kids around (which is why it took me 3 years to get this far), the part I’m on now is quite easy not as hard and I can figure out where I stopped if I have to put it down.

That’s as much as I’m going to say about that. I’m feeling sort of secretive about this project, probably because it’s been in the works for so long, and I don’t want to say what it is until it’s finished. I’ve said what it is in the past, so if you’re truly bored and want to search through my archives, go ahead. I’ll send you a cookie or something if you figure it out

I’ve also been working on a sock in Trekking 100. I’m finally down to the heel flap after God knows how many false starts, and I am pretty happy with how it’s looking. We’ll see if I get some more time to work on it today. It’d be nice, but if I can only work on the unnamed project that’s cool too.

I hope everyone has a great day and I hope I can be back with an FO post soon!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter yesterday! Ours was great, aside from the fridge giving up the ghost (I’m not terribly upset, it’s either fixable or I get to get a new fridge). The kids went over to my aunt’s house for Easter lunch and Chris and I took a long nap all afternoon, it was simply wonderful. It was something I really needed, for sure. The in-laws came over for dinner and we all ate and had nice conversation, I spun a little and knitted a bit. All good.

As I posted on Wednesday, The Yarn Harlot was in town and I was one of the lucky 400 who got in the door to hear her talk. Before heading over to the event, I got to meet up with a bunch of cool knitters at my favorite Thai restaurant - Pad Thai.

Clockwise from lower left corner: Chris of Stumbling Over Chaos, Beadslut, Cursing Mama, Stephania of Moraie Knitting, Connie of Between Loads, the blogless Cynthia, and Amy of Knit Think. Also shown is Flat Vicki, representing Vicki of Knitorious, who was with us in spirit if not in the flesh. I had a fine time at dinner, it was great to meet some new people!

After dinner, we headed over to William Mitchell, which had a nice room all set up for us. The Yarnery did a great job of setting up the event and they handed out some great canvas bags to everyone coming in the door. After a period of chatting, picture-taking, and knitting, we all joined in a rousing version of “O, Canada”. Stephanie seemed quite pleased by this, as I could see her off on the side of the stage taking pictures of us all singing. Of course I didn’t get a decent picture of that… but I did get a picture of her to prove I was there, haha:

She wore the Bohus sweater!

After waiting in line for almost two hours (and I was in the first round of people there!) I got my book signed. Chris was so kind as to part with a bottle of his precious homebrew, the Imperial Stout, so I could give Stephanie a little gift. I can’t believe how much fun she seemed to be having even after signing so many books and talking to so many people - by that point I’d be cranky as heck!

It was so nice to get a few hours out by myself! It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to go out so late (I got home after 10!), since I have to be home for bedtime, normally. I fully expected to find one or two screaming children waiting up for me when I got home, but they were both peacefully in bed. And Chris wasn’t even drinking beer by the quart! Heh. I guess it went just fine, thankfully. No guilt.

I finished a pair of socks on the Amtrak last weekend and iPhoto ate the picture, which is why I didn’t share it with you earlier. I finally got them off the clothesline and here they are:

Garter Rib pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks, Trekking color 16

I’m very pleased with these socks - they’ve been worn several times in the 10 days since I finished them! I wasn’t excited about the hand of the yarn as I was knitting with it, it was kind of squeaky and stiff (kind of how acrylic feels to me), but it softened wonderfully with washing. Good thing!

Well, it’s taken me over an hour to write this. Guess I should just post it already and get going with my day.

I know I’ve been knitting lately but I feel like I’m knitting into a black hole or else someone’s coming along and undoing my knitting when I turn my back. *Sigh*

I finished Arlo’s Wonderful Wallaby and there’s a picture waiting on the camera, which of course is out in the car. He likes it but it’s quite a bit too big for him, while the next smaller size is too small. *Sigh* I think he needs a cardigan. I’ll have to check the yardage of the yarn I finished the other day and see if it’d be enough. I think it was about 8oz, that *should* be enough, right?

I’ve started on Grace’s new Wallaby, using Ella Rae Classic Print in color 204 (pink, yellow, green). It’s my first time using this yarn and I’m finding it quite nice. The sweater is going very slowly, though, attributable to the fact that this is the second sweater in a row knit from the same pattern. *Yawn* I’d love to finish it by next week, since she’s going to spend a few days with my sister and I think it’d be nice for her to have this to wear then. Plus if I finish it I can justify buying some stuff at Herrschners and Black Purl while I’m over in Wisconsin.

I finished a sock, the Trekking 16 one I mentioned a while ago. I started the second one but ran into a knot that pulled out the center of the ball. I need to re-wind it but the ballwinder’s MIA. Sheesh.

It’s really been all about the spinning lately, though. I spun and plied 8oz of handpainted top from Creative Fibers. I need to go over one of the skeins and tighten up the plying, but I’ll have to wait until they’re dry - I didn’t notice how underplied it was until just now when I went downstairs to put in some laundry and to look at my skeins. One of them (the second one, oddly) is nicely plied but the first one is really loose and sloppy. Guess that’s what I get for lounging on the couch to ply while watching a movie instead of actually paying attention to my work. Ah well.

There’s also the fiber stuff - I got the last of the three Shetland fleeces washed, as well as a 1# bag of CVM that I bought at Shepherd’s Harvest in 2003 or 2004. That stuff is greasier than anything I’ve worked with before, especially after the Shetland which hardly has any lanolin at all. It’s so pretty and soft, though! The cats think so too - just about every time one of them goes down to the basement, I find chunks of the CVM fleece scattered around the basement. Stinkers. I found a plastic grocery bag full of clipped angora and two 1# balls of mohair top while I was cleaning up some of the mess down there last week, too. I haven’t a clue as to how long they’ve been there, or where the angora came from. I recall buying the mohair on ebay at some point, and that’s probably where the angora came from too, but when? No idea. I’ve got a plan to blend some of the angora with merino and silk - I have a pound of merino roving yet, and I got an ounce of tussah silk the other day to experiment with. I think I’m going to card up 2oz of the merino with an ounce each of the angora and silk. I’m trying to decide if I want to dye the wool and silk first - that’d definitely make it easier to tell if I’m making a homogeneous blend, but I’m not sure about color(s). Green is definitely up there, and the merino and silk will take the dye in a different way, plus the undyed angora will lighten up the color. There’s also the possibility of using different colors on the merino and silk, but that kind of scares me. But if I’m going to be a big chicken, I can use smaller amounts and if it looks like crap, oh well.

I need to go now before my kids kill each other or I am forced to throw them in the closet. We are going to IKEA with my friend Beth, who’s well past her due date and hoping to walk that baby out. I went over 42 weeks with Arlo, so I know how much fun she’s having. I don’t miss that (much).

I’m really excited right now. I begged a gigantic cardboard box off the ladies at Borealis today so I could ship my big fleece off to be processed. I realized that it was quite a bit too big for that one fleece, so I pulled down a Space Bag in which I’d packed some Shetland fleeces for storage (in 2002, as a matter of fact). I knew there were two fleeces in there that I’d bought from my friend Mary Ann of Bono Creek Shetlands, a brown one and a black one. What I didn’t remember was that there was also a black and white Shetland fleece that I’d bought from an eBay seller. That was a pleasant surprise, for sure!

Why I packed all of these away without washing them, I can’t say. But I threw the brown one in for a nice bath and realized that what looked like a fairly clean, if full of VM, fleece was actually quite dirty. It’s amazing how much dirt can hide in a brown fleece. You can all feel free point and laugh at me now I’m not going to be surprised if the black fleece yields filthy water as well now, at least.

I got a big package in the mail from The Woolery today - a padded tote bag for my spinning wheel! Despite its handy folding action, it’s still pretty unwieldy and I’ve banged my shins countless times while carrying it around. I’ve also put at least one good ding in one of the treadles, somehow, and I want to protect against giving it any more of those. I haven’t had a chance to put the wheel in the bag yet, but it looks like it’s going to be a good fit. I’m happy to have a safe place for it that’s not in our little entryway, blocking traffic. I’ve got to keep it safe from little fingers and kitty paws.

There’s been some other interesting stuff going on around here but I’ve got to run off and play with my fleeces some more right now. If there’s any sanity in the house tomorrow I’ll be back with some pictures and a little yarn pr0n. Stay tuned!

We got a huge amount of snow Saturday, at least 10″ but probably a bit more. I spent a good while shoveling yesterday - our wonderful neighbor ran his snowblower down the whole sidewalk so at least I didn’t have to do that part, but I did the steps & shoveled out Chris’s car - the snowplow really packs the snow down tightly! But it was a good workout and I’m feeling it today. The kids had fun getting towed around on the sled and I think we may go find a nice sledding hill today. Our front yard has a hill but it’s way too steep for sledding (and mowing, for that matter).

I did a little spinning last night after everyone else was asleep. I’m most of the way though the 4oz of Cotton Candy merino I dyed and am thinking about dyeing up another 4oz to match - I’d love to knit Grace a sweater out of this, I think she’d love the colors. I just have to decide if I want to Navajo ply it or just do a straight 2-ply. After seeing Cara’s yarn today, I’m thinking that the 2-ply would be nice. I do love to Navajo ply, though, so it’d be fun to do. Hard to decide!

Does anyone want to offer a suggestion based on my picture?

I’ve started the heel flap on the second of Chris’s Trekking socks but this sock has been much slower going than the first. Something about having two other active projects at the same time, I think!

Slooooow going but getting there!

Arlo’s Wonderful Wallaby is up to the armpits. I need to wind another skein of yarn and track down my size 5 and 7 DPNs so I can start the sleeves. Maybe I can do that today if the kids can go 20 minutes without trying to kill each other.

I like the seed stitch on the waistband and pocket. Hopefully doing it on the hood doesn’t kill me with boredom…

Thank you all for your happy birthday wishes for Grace! She enjoyed hearing that so-and-so said “Happy Birthday” to her and has asked if any other computer friends sent her more messages. Funny kid!

Four years ago today, my life changed: at 12:09 PM on February 21, 2003, my daughter Grace Elizabeth was born. She amazes me every day with her intelligence and insight, she loves her brother very much and plays nicely with him (most of the time). I am so lucky to have her.

Brand new!

One!

Two!

Three!

Four!

Okay, so it’s not knitting, but I did make the dress she’s wearing in the last picture. (I made the outfit she’s wearing in her 2yo picture too, but that’s ancient history )

I *have* been knitting, just haven’t had the time, energy, or brainpower to do any writing about it. I finished my orange Silja socks last Wednesday and have worn them twice since. I love them, though I could’ve used at least 4 fewer stitches and quite possibly 8 fewer - they’re looser than I like. Still comfy, though!

Silja color 346, 2 skeins minus about 7 yards used. Corded Rib pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks

I think this pair took me about 7-10 days to knit, a lot speedier than the previous pair. I found the pattern rather tedious and dull, but it did go by quickly if I had distractions. TV is good for something!

I’ve only got two more balls of Silja in my stash - lime green. I’m thinking they’ll be pulled out after I finish the current sock project, as it’s quite non-colorful. Socks for Chris in Trekking XXL, color 128. It’s listed as pink/brown/black there but really it’s beige, black/charcoal, and peach. I don’t love it but he seems happy enough with it. I started the first one last Wednesday evening, turned the heel on Friday, and could’ve finished the sock on Saturday night but fell asleep putting kids to bed - I wore myself out at the Knit Out at the MOA (totally lame, BTW). I finished the toe Sunday and then cast on for the next one that evening. I’m about 4″ into the cuff, will probably finish the cuff and start the heel flap tomorrow at ECFE. Yay.

I’ve also started a new Wonderful Wallaby for Arlo - his old one still fits, but just barely. Grace needs a new one sooner or later too, but since she chose purple for her current one and purple doesn’t look good on Arlo (makes him look deathly pale), I started his first. I’ve got Cascade 220 in a lovely rich blue (color 8891). I switched the ribbing to seed stitch, we’ll see how that works out. I think I’ll put seed stitch on the hood and on the placket too. Slightly more interesting than ribbing and/or garter stitch, though SLOW. Good thing he’ll love the sweater! He had no interest in choosing his yarn, so Grace picked it out. I had to steer her away from the pink, but that was the only poor choice. I can tell she’ll probably pick pink for hers, though I’m going to push her toward green - I never get to knit with green.

Still no progress on my sweater. I’m going to wind up some fresh balls of the Peace Fleece and retire the overworked stuff to a kid sweater, I think. Otherwise I *should* be good to go. Just need to figure the waist shaping and such once more before I start. Luckily, this is Minnesota and it’ll be cold enough for sweater wearing for 2-3 more months. *sigh* (Wait, maybe I shouldn’t say that. What if Annie Modesitt sees this and I scare her away? Really Annie, it’s lovely here! Honest!)

Wow, babble much Jess?

The spinning wheel sold in less than 12 hours yesterday! I thought I was reaching a little far with my Buy It Now price, but now I wonder if I could’ve pushed it higher. I shipped it off today and learned that I hadn’t put the shipping & handling estimate nearly high enough. *But* I did sell the wheel for a fair bit more than I paid for it, so that makes it a little less painful.

To celebrate, I went and had a cup of coffee at J&S while listening to Lime & Violet and knitting on my orange sock. Heh. I am planning to buy a nice carrying bag for Suzie with a portion of the proceeds of the sale, but the rest is going back into savings, since that’s where the money for Suzie came from. Ah, the joys of responsibility. I would love to buy a Pat Green Triple Picker, but I don’t think I could really justify that. I mean, I probably *could*, but I’m not going to try. At least not now - I might have to pull that card back out next year this year (WTF, did I forget that it’s 2007 already?) if I have an accident at Shepherd’s Harvest.

Thank you for all the comments on the roving I dyed! I started spinning up the Cotton Candy last night at spinning group and it’s better than I could’ve hoped - before I mentioned that it was inspired by cotton candy, someone said that that was what it looked like. Yeah! I’m not 100% sure I like spinning merino, it’s a little too spongy for me, but the colors are incredible. Maybe I’ll dye up the rest of this stuff and sell it to finance something more fun to spin - maybe some BFL or something. Anybody want to buy some roving? Hehehe. I refuse to get sucked into it as much as Scout has, though. Though it *is* fun… No. I like knitting, spinning, and dyeing too much to make it my job.

In addition to selling the Louet, I sent a friendly Freecycler off with two huge bags of acrylic yarn today. There was another box up there but I didn’t have enough hands (or time) to bring it down. I’m going to see if she can come get it, though - she’s making cage blankets for animals at the humane society and possibly another project, I forget. It’s nice to have that stuff out of here and on the road to a more useful existance. I’m also in negotiations to trade my other extra wheel for some upgrades to ye olde blog here. Probably nothing fancy, just some new colors and maybe a new header, we’ll see.

And as for that Peace Fleece sweater - back to the drawing board yet again. For some reason it keeps coming out way too big in the bust despite only having 2″ of ease and having the armholes at the right place. I guess maybe I just need to go for *no* or negative ease in the bust - might as well showcase the boobs a *little*, though I’ll need to get new bras if I wanna do that. I should probably avoid showcasing them in their current home just slightly north of my navel. Of course by the time I get back in the saddle on that, it’ll have warmed up from our current painfully cold temperatures. I’ve been very thankful for my ugly but still warm felted clogs, as well as for my fleece sweatshirts and flannel pants. And blankets. Lots of blankets. Oh yeah, and the fact that we co-sleep - it’s nice to go to bed and have your bed already pre-warmed for you.

Speaking of that pre-warmed bed, I think maybe I should go lie down in it. I am pooped.