Mikknit

I’ve been tagged by at least 2 people, there may have been a third that I forgot, so maybe I’ll do this one. I usually pass over the memes because I don’t really have a need to read that stuff (plus I’ve seen most of them on LJ over the years), and I doubt anyone really needs to read that about me.

But here we go:

1. I studied chemistry and then culinary arts but did not receive a degree in either discipline (or any discipline, for that matter). I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up.

2. I grew up in a small town. I hated living there at the time, but it has changed so much in the last 10 years and now I’d love to move back there. My parents have 70+ acres, we could *so* build a home out there…

3. I was the third-place finisher in the Wisconsin State Spelling Bee in 1991. I got out on “unisonous”, a word I will be able to spell correctly for the rest of my life. Incidentally, the girl who won that spelling bee went on to win the National Spelling Bee that year.

4. I didn’t start drinking coffee until about 3 years ago. Now my day doesn’t really feel ready to begin unless I’ve had my coffee. Breakfast isn’t my big thing, though – I don’t usually feel much like eating first thing in the morning.

5. I love to spin but I rarely knit with my handspun. If it’s not sock yarn or in sufficient quantity to become a sweater, I usually can’t figure out what to make it into. Doesn’t stop me from spinning, though! Process, not product, I guess.

6. While I may be a process spinner, I am definitely a product knitter – hence my fondness for knitting socks.

7. I used to constantly have my nose in a book, but since I had kids I don’t have the concentration to get into a book anymore. I don’t think I’ve read more than 20 books (kids’ books excluded, of course) in the last 4 years. Sad, I know. My only reading time anymore is in the bathroom, so there’s usually a good stash of magazines in there.

I forget if there were 7 or 8 of these… so this is a bonus if there were only 7:

8. I really miss driving a stick shift. I wish you could still get minivans with them, but for whatever reason they don’t do that anymore.

I tag NOBODY!

If you’re up for a birthday party on Saturday, May 26 and I haven’t already emailed you, please comment here. Make sure you leave your correct email address so I can get back to you!

Oh, I had so much fun at Shepherd’s Harvest this year! I took a class, I got to see lots of friends and meet new people, and of course there was the fiber orgy. Oh my, the fiber orgy.

First things first: I took my first class this year – Creative Drum Carding with Carol Wagner from Hidden Valley Farm & Woolen Mill. It was great – I definitely gained a lot of confidence in using the drum carder, specifically in blending colors and fibers. We learned some blending techniques using different colors – making a heathered color by blending two colors, then making a layered batt with 3 (or more) colors. My friend Jen from knitting group was in my class and there were a couple other friends with classes in the same area who we got to see. Also in my class was Tonyia, who blended up some great colors. Looks like she bought some nice stuff, too

In addition to Jen and Tonyia, I saw Lara, Shelley, Tracey, Tess, Aubrey, Leslie, someone whose name I can’t remember now (bad Jess) (hey you guys, if any of you has a blog let me know!), Catherine, Kerry, Deb, Amy, Beadslut, Vicki, and June, who was wearing her fantastic new shawl. It seems like I must have seen more friends but I’m blanking on them now. Anyone?

While I was socializing, there was also a little shopping going on. Imagine that. So here’s what came home with me:

Coopworth fleece from Hidden Valley Farm & Woolen Mill. It’s already been washed once and is probablyl ready for another wash by now – still very full of lanolin.

Spinner’s Web from South Dakota Natural Colored Wool Studio (the picture is a little on the blue side – that purple is much brighter IRL)

Wool/silk laceweight from Blackberry Ridge

Merino yarn (it’s heathered green with Packers colors, how could I not?) from Stonehedge Fiber Mill. This is SO LOVELY, words cannot describe it. Luscious.

I also bought some more Lip Blam! and Tropical Shampoo Bar from Shepherd’s Choice, but didn’t bother photographing it. It’s not all that exciting And of course a big bag of kettle corn, but that’s long gone. Yummy.

Let’s hope the kids go to bed easily tonight – I’ve got a fiber blending project that I want to work on. Hopefully I can share that with you soon – it’s very pretty and really fun.

Have a great day, everyone!

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!