how did this happen?

I am not a UFO kind of girl. I tend to have 2 projects going at any given time. Socks and something else. Sometimes 2 pairs of socks, one challenging, one mindless. All of the sudden
I am up to my eyeballs in "things to do". The pile is so big that I can not even begin to think about other projects. Let's just open up the cabinet and air all of the dirty laundry for the whole world to see....


The Faux Russian Stole: I have not even so much as looked at this thing in months. I love it, I want to finish it, but will I? OK, will I before the end of the decade?


Stole N Bases: Needs to be frogged. This is the 3rd thing I have tried to knit with this yarn. I think the yarn may be possessed, or at the very least have some bad karma. I need to pass it along.


Diagonal Rib Socks: These are for Husband. They are like his 5th pair is just a few short months. I am tired of making socks for him. Mostly boring colors, teeny tiny needles, MANY, MANY inches to knit.


Lenore: I should never have cast on. While I am enjoying the knitting, they do not have a recipient. That means I do not know how long to make the feet. Until I can figure that out they will remain unfinished.


Zen Roving: The spinning and half of the plying are finished. Today I began to get ready to finish plying only to realize that the niddy noddy was full...


Goblin Eyes: After I spun the last laceweight single of the Zen I could not resist playing with Goblin Eyes. This is the October Spunky club fiber. It is Romney and my vision is to spin big soft singles to turn into fingerless gloves. I unloaded the spindle right onto the niddy noddy. Great idea at the time, but now there is no place to put the Zen plying.

Learning Socks: I have not cast on, but I so want to cast on and dive in. The yarn is wound and sitting on the dresser, all dressed up and ready to go.


More Socks for Husband: You may recall this pair of socks. Husband likes them very much. They are the perfect color match to one of his favorite pair of work pants. A couple of weeks ago he brought them to me and confessed that he had mistakenly sent them through the wash. He is very sorry, he really likes them, but now they are tight. I told him it was OK and that I could probably find more yarn and make him another pair. Don't look at me like that, you would have done the same.


Please, oh please do not bring up the shelves that I should have finished painting weeks ago.


So here we are. I thought I would do some dying this weekend, but no. If I dye, then I will love the color and then need to spin it and that will lead to knitting......if you give a mouse a cookie.


Please tell me I am not alone with my UFO's.

dairy? no

I did not plan to blog about this topic. But, as it has consumed so much of my energy this week, I need to type. First, a little family food background. Youngest Daughter is a vegetarian. I am 95% vegetarian. I will eat fish to be polite. Youngest Son is probably lactose intolerant, he and the rest of the family are carnivores. Our daily food routine is a bit of a dance. I am pretty good at it. Then came Nutritionist.

Nutritionist was a speaker at Husband's work. One of his big topics was milk and how we should not be drinking it. He had all these facts and studies and common sense arguments. Husband brought home the information and Nutritionist's card. I listened and wondered how he got sucked into this conspiracy theory. The researcher in me could not just leave it at that. I talked to people who know, I read reports and studies. I researched my little heart out. In the end? We decided to give up milk. All dairy actually.

The most immediate and biggest plus has been for Youngest Son. In the past he would not drink milk, or eat cheese, or yogurt. A couple bites of ice cream or pudding and then he was done. I have spent a fair amount of time fretting about his diet. Since the switch to soy? He will eat a whole cup of pudding. "Ice cream" sandwiches are being gobbled down. It is truly amazing to watch his body tell him it is now OK to eat these things.

Going to the grocery store has become an outing. Not only do I have to find the new items on my list. I have to read the labels of every single brand to find the ones that do not contain MSG or one of its 100 code names. A 20 minute trip is now closer to an hour. I know that will change as I become more familiar with things. Right now it is a bit overwhelming.

Making the switch cooking wise has been pretty easy. We made some totally rocking cupcakes last night. Soy products stand in for dairy products with grace. The one thing I am having a hard time with? Cheese. I LOVE cheese. When I was diagnosing the MSG allergy I thought, as long as it was not popcorn, wine or cheese, I was good. I could do without the other things. Well, the daily bowl of popcorn is gone because the girls and their braces can not eat it and, I feel guilty if I am eating it. I have not yet found a good soy cheese. Even the one all the vegan blogs talk about, that is imported all the way from Scotland. Ick. That leaves me with wine. Eventually I will get over my cheese dependence. Until then...please keep my glass filled.

*k5,p2*

A dance class and an orthodontist appointment were spent on socks for Husband.

I really like the patterning on the leg.

I kept the rib, but dropped the twists on the foot. It looks nice, but it oh so boring. Making 2 of these might cause some brain cells to explode. Teeny tiny needles and size 13 feet are not a good match for me right now. (see leg warmer post)

Because I could not bear to knit anymore on that other sock, and I had 2 more dance classes to sit through. I cast on Lenore.

There is no good way to photograph black, at least not for me.

This is a quick, happy, jaunty little knit. I do not have to decide who I will give them to until it gets close to the toe. I have also not decided if I will drop the patterning on the foot.

Lately, I have been giving this foot patterning thing a lot of thought. Often, patterns are hard and time consuming. Then to have that work hidden by a shoe seems a waste. At the same time, plain stockinette is often not enough for a good fit. Dropping the pattern, but keeping the base ribbed used for a pattern, works well sometimes, but not always.

Today I would like to finish spinning singles so that I can ply tomorrow. I think there is enough time in the day.

Guess what I will do with this?

no festival for me

I read the blogs with all their good times and pictures from the Fiber Festivals. So far away. Then I learned of the Madrona Fiber Festival. This festival is close enough to me that I would not need a hotel, just a fair amount of caffeine. I could take a day or two of classes without disrupting the whole family. Woo Hoo! Sign me up!

I received an email with registration dates (it opens on the 12th) and a class list. I quickly searched through the classes to plan my 2 days of spinning education. Ready to soak up all the wisdom of those around me. No. All of the classes require a wheel. I am so disappointed. Chances are that I will have a wheel by then, I think the family wants to make it a holiday present, but there is no guarantee. Classes fill fast. Bummer.

Selbuvotter has leaped into the frog pond. The pink and red combination was not making me happy. Once I began knitting I thought, "These are going to be sweet, I will give them to Grandma." As I knit along the mittens were fitting me just great. That meant way too big for Grandma. Add that to the pink/red issues and I had no choice but to yank it out.

The yarn has been reskeined (reskun?) and will turn into something else. Maybe. I will try to mittens again. Different colors.

The past 2 days have have/will include 3 dance classes and a long Orthodontist appt. That means much sock progress to report tomorrow.

the good and the bad

The good thing about being a Loopy Groupie is that Sheri sends you an email when a Sneak Up happens. The bad thing about being a Loopy Groupie? Sheri sends you an email when a Sneak Up happens.

needles and progress

I promised progress and needles, so I will start with that.

I have been spinning everyday. Yes, every day. My singles are consistent, the joins no longer scary, and it should only be another week before I finish spinning the current pile of fiber. Then it is right onto the needles for a lace shawl. I am planning on giving Evelyn Clark's lace triangle design book a workout.

There has also been knitting progress. First, the knitting I do not like.

This is the first in a set of LONG leg warmers for Youngest Daughter. No, it is not a return to the 80's. Youngest Daughter is a dancer, so these are to be functional. She chose the yarn. She has legs like a giraffe. I am going to be doing K2, P2 ribbing until my brain explodes! What was I thinking? I think we Knitter's are so happy when someone asks us to knit them something we say yes before our brain can work out the implications of what has been requested.

Next up, something I am enjoying.

Socks for Husband. The yarn is Trekking Pro Natura. Yeah, it is a little splitty, but I am dealing with it just fine. I can usually get a couple of pattern repeats done while waiting at a dance class or doc appointment. No hurry on these. Of the past dozen socks that have recently been knit, they have been mostly for him. When he asks for a specific color I can not say no. The pattern is the Diagonal Rib from Favorite Socks.

I received a set of Harmony DP needles this week. First impression? They are a bit tacky. The colors are not as bold as I expected. You do not get the obvious layers of color on the little needles that you see on the big Options tips. I switched out the needles on the current socks project for the Harmony and gave them a spin. After a few rows the tackiness was gone and they were glossy. The next set out of the package I gave a good rub down before casting on. MMM, nice. Smooth, slick even, lightweight, pointy. Its all good! I usually prefer Crystal Palace Bamboo. The Harmony's are a keeper. I am concerned about how the, oh so pointy, tips will hold up. Time will tell. Did I mention they are pointy? The pointyness is wonderful.

Then there is Selbuvotter. This was not even on my radar screen 72 hours ago. A Ravelyer put a call out. She signed up for the class at the LYS and 2 more people needed to sign up or it would be cancelled. Now I am not a taking a class sort of gal, but this was a call for help and the topic? Quite intriguing. So I psyched myself up to take the class. In the end the class was cancelled, and here I was all dress up with no place to go. So I ran out and bought the book and some yarn. I read, read, read, then cast on and knit, knit knit. Then there was the giggling and the ripping and the casting on again. Joy is happening here. Why?

As part of this exercise I decided that I would knit the mittens holding one color in my right hand, knitting American, and holding the other color in my left hand, knitting Continental. A bold and daring move to be sure. What I learned? I LOVE knitting Continental. I will probably switch. This old dog is learning new tricks and is completely tickled about the whole thing.

Next time...Madronna Fiber Festival disappointment and Selbuvotter photos

fiber weekend follow up

I can not believe it has taken me all week to gets these pictures taken and loaded. Here are the photos of all the great stuff that came into the house last weekend.

First up, the Loopy Ewe order.

On the left is Shibui, on the right is Oceanwinds.

The Shibui is the exact color I have been looking for. Husband has a pair of socks using Shibui. They were very nice to knit, we will see how they hold up.

The Oceanwinds is super soft. I am a little nervous about making socks with it. I may turn it into a baby sweater.

Here are a couple of braids from Dragon Fibers.

The blue is actually a dark purple, so lovely. Color Spook. Content BFL There are 8 ounces, so this may become a shawl for next Halloween. I really love spinning her stuff.

More fiber, this time from Spunky Eclectic.

This is the October Fiber Of The Month club. It is Romney which I have never spun. It feels quite rough and has long fibers. Just a few twists between the fingers makes a strong length. I will probably wait a bit to spin this. Not only do I not have a project in mind, a little research is in order so that I do not screw it up.

Lastly, STR October instalment.

Color, Lenore. The yarn is VERY dark and hard to photograph. It is mostly black with shades of dark purple through out. This is the first release from the upcoming Ravens line. The pattern is by Stephanie. Beautiful and simple. For me to knit the black yarn I will need to wait until the days are a bit longer and brighter.

That is that. What a great weekend!

Next up...knitting and spinning progress and needles