BLOG MOVED!

Thanks to all my loyal readers. I have grown tired of the struggle with blogger and I have moved my blog to wordpress. You can find it at

http://amysbabies.wordpress.com

Please remember to update your Bloglines, Google Readers, or your prefered method of blog reading because I hope you will follow me to the new site. All the same posts are there. All the comments that were lost in the Haloscan incident have been restored. Unfortunately this caused the loss of the comments from the past month. I have all the links to other blogs on my side bar and I will be slowly adding back all my badges and other frew fraw on my side bar as time permits.

Thank you for your understanding and loyal readership!

Tour Update

Yesterday I finished plying the Nightshade. It came out so fantastic! I adored working with this fiber. It was the first time I had used Coopworth and I think I wouldn't hesitate to use it again in the future. It came out to almost laceweight! I am getting closer to my goal every skein I make. I think this would make a fantastic shawl. The colors are so rich and I can't wait to see what they look like when they are all worked up.

As soon as I was done with that one, I started on my next set of fiber. This is Tulip from Spunky Eclectic. I think this one is going to be closer to a true laceweight. It is spinning up super fine and it is taking forever to fill a bobbin. I still keep having to remind myself to spin thinner, but I am getting better at it.

And because this is just a super cool photo, this little guy was found by Joe out by the laundry room. I have been living in the desert all my life and this is the first time I have ever seen a horned toad out in the wild! My husband shot this great photo of him just chillin' by the sidewalk.

I Live

I am still alive and crafting! Things have been a little out of control for the past week or so. 90% of my craft supplies have been packed. I kept out some small projects and some fiber to keep me company.

I finished the kitchen rug

Here it is on the kitchen floor of the new house. It looks great in the kitchen and I can't wait to stand on it when I wash the dishes for the first time! (I don't think I have ever looked forward to washing dishes like this in my whole entire life) Here are the specs:

- It came out almost 3 feet across
- Crochet in a spiral increasing 9 stitches each round using a G hook
- Hand spun wool blend in a chunky weight
- Three colorways from Spunky Eclectic were used: Toronto and Nova Scotia were spun together to make the center and the border, Path Less Taken was used for the middle band.

I have joined the Ravelry community! I am amysbabies over there. I am loving all the features and the ability to keep track of all the things I want to knit! All the books I want to get, all the yarns I want to use, all the needle sizes I don't have yet. It is my new project enabler. I didn't realize I had such an enourmous list of projects I wanted to do in the future until I joined Ravelry. Thank you Ravelry!

The Tour de Fleece started this week! We have over 100 participants this year. You can see all the fantastic handspun over at our Flickr photo pool. I set the goal of spinning laceweight by the end of the tour. I am not sure my wheel spins fast enough for this goal, but I am sure going to give it my best. I started with this mystery fiber that I got in a swap last year.
You can see it is a great tweedy blend of a whole bunch of other things. It isn't the softest, but it is a fantastic Saphire blue! I could only get it down to sock weight. It was a lace weight single, but I wanted to get a two ply going for some strength in the finished yarn. I used my smallest whorl and treadled quickly, but it is like taking a small car on the freeway and pushing it to 85 mph. My poor little wheel shook so hard I thougt it was going to shake apart! I know there is a fast flyer kit for my wheel, but I don't think it has the weight to withstand a fast flyer. A bigger wheel like a Lendrum or a Louet might have a weight advantage. Plus what a great excuse to purchase a second wheel ;)

I have moved on to my second attempt at laceweight. I am using some fiber from the Spunky Club over at Spunky Eclectic. It is a Coopworth roving in the Nightshade colorway. Again I don't think I have anything lighter than Sock weight, but this fiber has been a dream to spin. It has been so smooth and it drafts like a dream! I finished spinning the 8 oz today and now I just need to ply it.

And a photo of what I have begun calling The Painted Lady!Her paint is FINALY done correctly (third time's the charm, tons of drama) and we are supposed to get the keys sometime between Friday and Wednesday. Kind of like waiting for the cable man when they tell you he will be there between 10am and June. The front door is the same color red as the trim.

Beginnings and Endings

I started working on a Blankie made from singles scraps that I had been collecting on a center pull ball for the past few months. This square is my favorite so far. I got the inspiration from Shelly's blog. It will be big enough for a queen sized bed when it is done.

I also started on a kitchen rug for the new house. I spun up some yarn from a sock bundle from Spunky Eclectic a few months ago. It came out beautiful and reminded me of a persian rug. I was sure I had taken photos of it, labeled the photos and posted about it on my blog or a fiber friday or something. I only had a 4 oz skein and I knew I would need more, so I went searching for the fiber specs so I could order more. I couldn't find any photos, files or mention of this particular yarn ANYWHERE! This is jus so not like me.
So then began the search for the colorways. I knew that they were wool blend fiber, they had been a sock bundle and that they were two different colorways (burgundy/white/gold and Navy/white/gold) that I had spun together. So after exchanging some emails, offers to mail her the project and spur of the moment photos, Amy was able to pinpoint the colorways I needed! She rocks, go buy her fiber!! So now the fiber is winging its way to me along with my fiber of the month.

Speaking of the house, it is almost done!!!!!!!!!! We close on the 9th!!!!!!*passes out from excitement*

Here is what the house looked like last time I showed you guys a pictureAnd here is what it looked like as of this morning!!!

They aren't quite done painting the outside. Imagine it with a redish-brown trim and front door. They also need to install the carpet, plumbing fixtures and blinds and put in the landscaping. I am going to try to get some photos from the inside. Our project foreman is our backyard neighbor and he tries to leave the backdoor open for a bit so we can get a look inside, but our next door neighbor (bless his heart) keeps going over and locking the place up before we get there! So I haven't had very many chances to get interior photos since the doors went on.

Tour de Fleece

I have been so scatter brained recently I haven't been able to stay focused on one project long enough to get anything done!

I have been trying to restrain myself from spinning at the moment. I am waiting for The Tour de Fleece to begin and I don't want to take the chance of running out of fiber mid-tour (yeah, like that could happen). I missed out on last year due to lack of spinning equipment, but I am all over it this year. If you would like to participate here are some details.

-Sign up at Craftster or at Star's blog

Guidelines (not rules)
1. Spin every day the Tour rides, if possible. Saturday July 7th through Sunday July 29th. Days of rest: Monday, July 16th, Tuesday July 24th. (Just like the actual tour)
2. Spin something challenging Wednesday July 25th. (The last hard climbing mountain stage in the Pyrenees - Col d’Aubisque)
3. Take a button if you want one. Then we can use the button on our blogs in show of solidarity. Take it from here or grab a clean one from the flickr pool.
4. Wear yellow on Sunday July 29th to announce victory. Why not wear yellow on any day you feel particularly successful? (Yellow is the color of the race leader in the Tour - but here we are all 'race leaders')
5. Other colors if desired: Green (sprinter - think FAST), Polka-dot (climber - as in uphill), and white (rookie)

I will be moving smack in the middle of the tour so I don't know how much I will get done on those days, but I will still spin for a few minutes those days.

Please come join us! This is going to be so much fun!

Also, this weekend there is a movie comming out that every spinner needs to see. A new horror movie from New Zealand. What happens when the sheep revolt?

Modular Miters

Sara asked about the Mitered Squares that I am working with right now, so here is what is currently in my knitting bag. It is the Dogwood colorway from Spunky Eclectic spun in a sport weight single. Here are some of the websites I found with info on this pattern.

This is the pattern I decided to use, but I am doing it in Stockinette instead of Garter. It is very clearly explained and once you have the basics of the pattern memorized you can make the squares as big or small as you want them to be. These instructions are great too because they show you how to minimize having to weave in the ends!! Always a bonus.

Shelly Kang has a great scrap blanket going with this method. Scroll to the very bottom for her instructions. Last night I started a scrap afghan too, so I am going to join her KAL

Anonyknits has a great tutorial on how to turn the blocks in different directions without having to seam them together.

I hope these point you in the right direction!

On the house front ( yes we still have a house :P ) The driveway and sidewalks were poured yesterday, the painters are there today and the cabinets are being "dropped" tomorrow!! I will get some pictures uploaded in a day or so.

Back at the Keyboard

Here I am, back at the keyboard after a nice vacation in the land of green. I had a fantastic time relaxing and hanging out with some of my favorite people in the whole world. I went to my brother's highschool graduation in Omaha, Nebraska and it was such a nice change from all the brown here in the SouthWest.

Deneen - I am finding that the email addreses aren't showing either. I will stick with it for now, I am hoping people are just forgetting to enter their email addresses.

Thanks Lasandri, I like the banner too. I got it from this realy great lady I happen to know ;D

Lora - So glad that I inspired you to pick the entrelac back up. I love playing with color and entrelac is such a great way to show off a great yarn

I finaly got photos of my Pacific Waves Shawl. It was more narrow than I like and it was SUPER long, but the moment my Mom saw it she fell in love! So instead of giving her my Clapotis, I gave her this shawl instead. She looks stunning in it, but that is my horribly biased oppinion

While I was in Omaha I taught my brother to spin. He did a great job spinning an ounce of Corriedale! It came out as a great Thick and Thin. When I get my wheel set up again I am going to finish spinning the other 3 ounces and make him a hat using his wool. I think he will have a great time this winter telling people that he spun part of that wool.

I also started on my next project, no photos yet. It is a mitered square shawl using the Dogwood colorway from Spunky. I love how it is looking so far and i will certainly use this pattern for at least 2, maybe 3 more shawls. It has the charm of entrelac, but I love the modular aspects of the squares. It really feeds into my love of color. I think it is my background in quilting that draws me to making shawls. I love laying them out and looking at how the colors play across the FO. I love looking at how they interact, how they touch each other and blend into each other. I love watching the colors move and dance, changing positions and partners. Sometimes blending with a complementing color, then flitting across the knit fabric to interact with a group of colors that are bright and contrasting. It is such a feast for the eyes.

Speaking of feast of colors for the eyes, while I was in Omaha I got to visit their annual quilt show. So very inspirational! I have set up a group of flickr photos of some of my favorite quilts.

And Lasandri tagged me for the 7 meme. I think I am the very last person on the whole internets to do this one, so if you are like me then consider yourself tagged!

1. I started out my college career majoring in Race Track Industries. I wanted to be a race horse trainer. It had been my dream career since I was about 9. I left the department for a super lame reason and there are some days I wish I had stuck with it. I decided to leave for the more lucrative career of Costume Designer. I tell my husband I got a degree to learn the proper way to iron a shirt!

2. I hate sunny days, which is why I live in a place that has 360 sunny days a year *eye roll*.

3. I wanted a moped or scooter when I was in college. A Vespa would have been the best! I could have zipped around campus, "Ciao"

4. As a child somebody made the mistake of giving me and my two cousins a tape of the Pirate's of Penzance soundtrack. We put on lip synched musicals just about every weekend, complete with costumes and props. The grownups decided to put an end to it when we took sticks of gum, drew faces on the inner wrapper, folded the outer wrappers down to make costumes and taped them to sticks for puppet show versions of our musical (hey, you use what you have)

5. I love horror movies!!!!eleventyone!! On my vacation my sister, upon coming home from seeing the newest Pirates movie, told my Grandmother that she wouldn't have liked it because it was too violent. I told her, "That's ok, she just stayed here and watched Silence of the Lambs with me instead." The look on my sister's face was priceless :D

6. I am a night owl, which really sucks having children who wake up with the first sliver of light that happens to creep through the window. I would be ecstatic to live on a Vampire's schedule. Up at dusk, bed by dawn.

7. I am terribly addicted to video games. Given an opportunity I would spend days in front of the TV, neglecting personal hygiene, sustinance and human interaction. It is a good thing I don't often get this opportunity.

Back to unpacking, getting my wheel set back up and getting caught up on almost 500 yahoo group emails and over 100 blog posts!

New Feature

Hey Guys!

One of my least favorite things about my blog has been fixed! I have always hated not being able to respond directly to comments that were made on my blog. Today I installed Haloscan and now that problem has been taken care of, but it brought up a different problem. All of your past comments have been deleted!! I feel so terrible because there were some great comments there. Can't have the good without the bad I guess. I am off soon on my trip, I will have photos when I get back!

They grow up so fast!

It seems like just last weekend He gave me this pot for Mother's day, and now he has his own moustache! Where did the days go??

He made the pot in his art class at school. It is perfect for my straight needles and my mascot and crafting companion Chicken Butt.

Fiber comming out my ears!!

Not that I'm complaining in any way! First off, I bet you noticed the new layout (pointing out the new layout like a Price is Right model) I think it is easier to read, but that is just me.

I got several boxes in the mail this week that were overflowing with fiber, but this one caught the attention of somebody Teeny.

She is the local customs inspector and has to approve every package brought into the house.

She approves of this package! It is from Spunky Eclectic and that is only about half of the fiber that was in that box.

I finished the Pacific Waves shawl, but it isn't blocked so you can't see it (neener, neener) Since I finished it, I had some spinning time.

This is Signature in BFL. Bet you can't guess where the fiber came from! I spun it in a laceweight single that I then Navajo plied into a heavy sock weight. I love the colors and they spun up fantastic!

I am off with the kids and Aurora to Nebraska next week to see my family. My brother is graduating and it is going to be a great time! Any suggestions for great fiber places in or near Omaha?

WIP Wednesday

I don't have any new fiber to share yet, but that doesn't mean I have been sitting around slacking! I have been super busy working on other projects and thinking about some projects that I should finaly get off my rear and finish.

I have been knitting on my Galveston Mystery Shawl, but it has progressed to the jellyfish stage and is not quite photogenic at the moment. I should have the whole thing finished and blocked in the next couple weeks. I wanted to give it to my Grandmother when I go to visit at the end of the month.

I have also been working on the Pacific Waves Shawl from Elann. I am using my Shade Garden self stripping that I spun a couple of months ago. I have so much of this yarn that I am hoping to have enough left over for another project.I cast on for this last Friday night, 541 stitches marked every 18th stitch O_O Right now it just looks like a big funky collar. I am about half way through. There are 41 rows in the instructions and I was so excited last night when I got to row 38. I thought I was almost finished, even if it did seem a little narower than it was supposed to be. I thought maybe the extra width would come with blocking. NOPE! Row 41 says to go back to row 5 and do it all again, groan!! It isn't a difficult pattern, just sort of mindless. The pattern is only worked every 4th row, so the other 3 rows are plain stockinette....for 541 stitches per row.

I have also pulled out a project that I started on last year. I ADORE Japanese art and when I found a Lonni Rossi panel titled Ginkgo Godesses in a quilt shop, I had to have it right then! There are three godesses per panel, so I decided to give each one the atributes of an element. I dug through my hand dyed fabric stash and gave them each a beautiful new kimono and a sparkly crown. I even fussy cut out some foliage for their Ginkgo accessories. There are bigger images over at my Flickr

Here is how they started out

And Here is how each of them looks now.

Earth
Wind

And Fire

I traced and cut all the pieces out, then appliqued them onto the original panel. On Wind I went over the seams with a black pen to hide the white spaces peeking out from between the pieces and to add back in the lines in the folds. I haven't done that yet on the other two. I am thinking of doing some hand embroidery to embelish them a bit more before they are done. They will eventualy have a narow red border and a wide black border added to the outside edges to frame them for becoming wall hangings. I am going to purchase another one of these panels, plus some Geisha panels that are being released this spring for some further experamentation ;D

Almost Solid Spectrum

I spent this week spinning up an Almost Solid sampler pack from Spunky Eclectic in all Merino. I love how they look and I wish I had enough money to buy 4 oz of each of them! There are 20 one ounce skeins in the photo. Some of the colors have been picked out to be used in my Mrs Weasley sweater and the rest might be used for baby socks.

I know I said before that I wasn't interested in socks, but that hat from last week has got me tied in knots! I don't have any experience with socks, so I don't know if it was a mistake on my part or just an odd pattern, but it will bother me untill I conquer it. So I figured the easiest way was to make Teenie some socks out of some of these beautiful colors! Once I have an understanding of the Engineering of Socks then I might go back to the hats for another try.

Burried in Fiber, Send Hooks and Needles!!

First off, I have made some additions to the sidebar! There is now a Patterns section for easy access to my patterns. I have also fixed the dead Spunky Eclectic image Now, on to the fiber!! I finished this blanket I had been making for my Teenie. It is in the Maid Marrion colorway. I spun the yarn into a sport/sock weight and knit squares 5 stitchtes across on US7's. She spent yesterday afternoon carrying it around the house and took it to bed with her last night.

I also spent time spinning a bunch of 4oz superwash rovings from that I have been hoarding.

Upside-Down Frown
Pie in the Sky
Boogie Days
Brain Freeze
Buggin'
Navajo Gems

I had planned to use these colorways to make Stocking Caps. I used the Navajo Gems to make the first one.I was a little disapointed in how it came out. The top isn't very sock like, it is more Snork like. I think I am going to add the other colors to my Mrs. Weasley sweater. I am doing an acrylic mockup right now to decide where I want to use acrylic and where I want to put handspun. I am also trying to decide if I want the sleeves to be completely acrylic or if I want some handspun in there too.

Moogle Pattern

Moogle Doll Pattern
By Amy Shimel

Copyright Amy Shimel 2007 For personal use only. Not for resale or to create resale items.

Design Notes
Some of the parts of this doll are started using the magic ring technique. Here are directions if you are unfamiliar with this technique. The doll is worked in the round unless otherwise instructed. Mark the last stitch in each round to keep track of where you are supposed to stop each round. This is also done with a very tight tension. Tight tension will stop the stuffing from showing through the stitches and help the doll keep his shape.

DIFFICULTY
This is an Beginner pattern

ABBREVIATIONS
ch - chain
sl st - slip stitch
sc - single crochet US (same as double crochet UK)
hdc - half double crochet US (same as half treble UK)
dc - double crochet US (same as treble UK)
sc - 2tog decrease one stitch with single crochet
() - indicates section to be repeated

MATERIALS
Size E/4 ( 3.5 mm ) Crochet Hook
Tapestry Needle
Small Needle
Poly-beans and Poly-Fill for stuffing
White yarn for body
Red yarn for bauble and nose
Purple yarn for wings
Black yarn for eyes
6" long piece of small gage wire
Needle Nose Pliers for bending wire

GAGE
6 stitches and 6 rows per inch

HEAD
With White yarn , MAKE ONE
R1 - 6 sc in the ring and pull the ring tight. Mark the last stitch ( 6 sc )
R2 - 2 sc in each stitch around ( 12 sc )
R3 - ( 1 sc, 2 sc in next stitch ) 6 times ( 18 sc )
R4 - ( 2 sc, 2 sc in next stitch ) 6 times ( 24 sc )
R5 - ( 3 sc, 2 sc in next stitch ) 6 times ( 30 sc )
R6 - ( 4 sc, 2 sc in next stitch ) 6 times ( 36 sc )
R7-11 - sc in each stitch around ( 36 sc )
R12 - ( 4 sc, sc 2tog ) 6 times ( 30 sc )
R13 - ( 3 sc, sc 2tog ) 6 times ( 24 sc )
R14 - ( 2 sc, sc 2tog ) 6 times (18 sc )
Finish off and leave a tail long enough to use to sew the head onto the body. Set aside.

BODY
With White yarn, MAKE ONE
R1 - 6 sc in the ring and pull the ring tight. Mark the last stitch ( 6 sc )
R2 - 2 sc in each stitch around ( 12 sc )
R3 - ( 1 sc, 2 sc in next stitch ) 6 times ( 18 sc )
R4 - ( 2 sc, 2 sc in next stitch ) 6 times ( 24 sc )
R5 - ( 3 sc, 2 sc in next stitch ) 6 times ( 30 sc )
R6 - ( 4 sc, 2 sc in next stitch ) 6 times ( 36 sc )
R7-12 - sc in each stitch around ( 36 sc )
R13 - ( 4 sc, sc 2tog ) 6 times ( 30 sc )
R14 - ( 3 sc, sc 2tog ) 6 times ( 24 sc )
R15 - ( 2 sc, sc 2tog ) 6 times (18 sc )
Finish off and Set aside.

ARMS AND LEGS
With White yarn. MAKE FOUR
R1 - 6 sc in the ring and pull the ring tight. Mark the last stitch ( 6 sc )
R2 - 2 sc in each stitch around ( 12 sc )
R3 - ( 1 sc, 2 sc in next stitch ) 6 times ( 18 sc )
R4-5 - sc in each stitch around ( 18 sc )
R6 - ( 1 sc, 2tog ) 6 times ( 12 sc )
R7-12 - sc in each stitch around ( 12 sc )
Finish off and leave a tail long enough to use to sew the appendages onto the body. Set aside.

EARS
With White yarn, MAKE TWO
R1 - 4 sc in the ring and pull the ring tight. Mark the last stitch ( 4 sc )
R2 - ( 1 sc, 2 sc in next stitch ) 2 times ( 6 sc )
R3 - ( 2 sc, 2 sc in next stitch ) 2 times ( 8 sc )
R4 - ( 3 sc, 2 sc in next stitch ) 2 times ( 10 sc )
Finish off and leave a tail long enough to use to sew the Ears onto the Head. Set aside.

NOSE
With Red yarn, MAKE ONE
R1 - 6 sc in the ring and pull the ring tight. Mark the last stitch ( 6 sc )
R2 - 2 sc in each stitch around ( 12 sc )
R3 - ( 1 sc, 2 sc in next stitch ) 6 times ( 18 sc )
R4-5 - sc in each stitch around ( 18 sc )
R6 - ( 1 sc, 2tog ) 6 times ( 12 sc )
Finish off and leave a tail long enough to use to sew the Nose onto the Head. Set aside.

BAUBLE
With Red yarn, MAKE TWO
R1 - 6 sc in the ring and pull the ring tight. Mark the last stitch ( 6 sc )
R2 - 2 sc in each stitch around ( 12 sc )
R3 - ( 1 sc, 2 sc in next stitch ) 6 times ( 18 sc )
R4- sc in each stitch around ( 18 sc )
Finish off and leave a tail long enough to use to sew the Two halves together. Set aside.

WINGS
With Purple yarn, MAKE TWO
R1 - 4 sc in the ring and pull the ring tight. Mark the last stitch ( 4 sc )
R2 - ( 1 sc, 2 sc in next stitch ) 2 times ( 6 sc )
R3 - ( 2 sc, 2 sc in next stitch ) 2 times ( 8 sc )
R4 - ( 3 sc, 2 hdc in next stitch ) 2 times ( 10 stitches )
R5 - ( 4 sc, 2 hdc in next stitch ) 2 times ( 12 stitches )
R6 - ( 5 sc, 2 dc in next stitch ) 2 times ( 14 stitches )
Finish off and leave a tail. Set aside.

FINISHING

- Place small amounts of PolyFill into the very bottom half of the hands and feet, leaving the top half empty. Sew them to the body so The Moogle will be in a seated position.

- Flatten the wings and sew the open ends shut. Attach them onto the body as shown in this photo

- Fill the body with the PolyBeans and place a small amount of PolyFill at the top to keep the beans from spilling. Set aside.

- Fill the nose with PolyFill and sew it and the ears to the Head.

- Using the black yarn, sew the lines for the eyes. Set Head aside.

- Using the plyers, bend the top of the wire into a shape to hold it inside the Bauble. This could be a Y, T or spiral shape. Slide it through the center of one Bauble half. Sew the two halves together leaving a small hole to stuff the Bauble and then finish sewing it together.

- Slip the wire through the top of the head and out the bottom. Bend this end of the wire at the length you want the Bauble to be above the head and into another shape to hold it inside the head.

- Fill the head with PolyFill and sew it to the body.

- Sit back and enjoy your new friend!

lace, FO, what next?

I have finished the second clue in the Galveston Mystery Shawl KAL. It is now in the slouchy hat/tea cozy stage, so I don't have a picture of the whole thing but I have some close ups. It is currently octagonal in shape. There was a square pannel where there were no increases. I love the rectangles in this section.And a triangular pannel where all the increases were placed. There is sort of a leafy pattern going on there.
I just can't wait to see what it looks like when it is done!!

I also finished the Clapotis I was working on last week! It is a very simple pattern once you get used to how the pattern is written. I was confused a bit when I started the second section, but once I worked it out it was a breeze to finish. I was using a larger set of needles and a heavier yarn than the pattern called for, so there was some frustration, frogging, further frustration and additional frogging involved with the finishing of this item.

I used worsted weight superwash that I spun from a combination of Dandy Lion and Macaw colorways from Spunky Eclectic. I had 12 oz that I spun into aprox 800 yards of 2 ply worsted and I used US 10.5 needles. The pattern calls for 12 repeats of the third section, on the larger needles that would have made this shawl ENORMOUS!! So I tried 10 repeats, and came up short in the yardage. I ripped it back to 9 repeats and tried again. STILL to short in yardage *groan*. Ripped it back to 8 repeats and I had enough yardage to finish with just a teeny bit left over. Even with only 8 repeats, it is still almost 7 feet long!

Now I need to figure out what I am going to do next. I might do some spinning for fiber friday tomorrow, I have tons of fiber to choose from. But I also have some other ideas for knitted things. I want to make a print 'o the waves shawl, now that I am all into lace, I also want to make some stocking caps for friends and family to wear to the Harry Potter parties this summer. I could spin some orphan rovings into yarn for caps. And at some point I have to start crocheting my Mrs Weasley sweater. I just don't know where to start!

I am such a lemming!

I have gone and caught The Clap. This is yarn I spun from fiber I got from the Spunky Club this month. It is Superwash in two colorways, DandyLion and Maccaw! They are plied together in 800 yards of worsted weight. My hubby loved the way it looked, but I already had plans for it. I told him if I didn't hit my yardage then I would make him something out of it. I love unzipping the drop stitches.

I also joined in with the Galveston Mystery Shawl KAL. I purchased a complete set of KnitPicks Options as a birthday present to myself this year and a bunch of laceweight. I was planning to purchase copies of A Gathering of Lace and Heirloom Knitting, but it takes 3-5 weeks to get Heirloom Knitting and with the move I wasn't sure what address we would be at in 5 weeks. So I was pleased when I found the KAL that I wouldn't have to give up my ideas of lace knitting until after the move.

I finished the first clue last night! I worked it on one circular needle using the magic loop. After the confusion over the first couple rows of the pattern were worked out it was a very easy chart to follow! I love the pattern so far and I can't wait to see what happens on the next clue!

New House News

I don't have any fiber-y news today, but I do have house news! They put the stucko on last week! It is getting so close to being done. I checked on it today and they are still working on the wall texture on the inside. Saw a guy on stilts working in the garage this morning. They told us that when the cabinets go in, we will have about 30 days to go! No cabinets yet, but I will let you guys know when they get here.
And Yes Deedo, there is a Craft Room :D Well, it is more like a Craft Walk-In Closet, but it is mostly mine. See that little square of metal on the ceiling? That is the HV/AC vent. The closet is hooked into the heating and cooling vents, so it won't get stuffy or too hot in there! I have all sorts of plans for shelves, baskets and cubbies in there. We have even talked about having the computer in there too. It is much bigger in person than it seems in that photo.

So much News!

I have so much News to tell today! I will start with the house.

WE HAVE DRYWALL!!!

That is my Teeny there in the photo. After a 3 and a half week delay, we finaly have drywall! Now all we need is tape, texture, paint and flooring and we are ready to move in!!! I am beyond exstatic. We are hoping to be all moved in before Teeny's third birthday at the beginning of June.

This is a layer cake that Joe made out of drywall scraps. We also are situated so close to where the local airshow is that you can see the whole thing from our hosue. Here is a photo of the Blue Angels my Hubby took this weekend.

Now, on to the fiber. I finished knitting a new Lady Eleanor with the yarn I spun from the Forecast colorway from Spunky Eclectic.

It was made from about 1000 yards of yarn. On #10.5 needles with 10 stitch squares and is 7 squares across. It came out nice and lacy. You can see the Sunbonnet Sue peeking through the top there. It is warm enough to keep out the chill. The colorway was named Forecast because it is remenicent of snowy days with bright blue skies and bare earth where the snow has begun to melt. This shawl looks to me like you are seeing this day through a kaleidoscope or a frosted window.

And last, a tease for Liz. This is what I am making with the Maid Marrion yarn from Friday. It is on #9 needles, is 5 stitch squares and is 18 squares across. It will be a blanket for my Teeny