FAF 8/31/12

Wow, Labor Day weekend is already upon us. It's been so blazing hot all summer I feel like I missed it. When you try to stay in the a/c all the time it doesn't leave much time to spend outside. We have had a couple of good fishing outings though. What was the most fun you've had this summer?

I've spent more time swatching this summer than in all the years I've been knitting. Perhaps it's the sign of my knitting maturity? I know that I don't want to knit another sweater that doesn't fit when I'm done. Only have to do that once to learn a lesson. So, here's my third swatch for the Eisen sweater...

This was knit with two different needle sizes, the dental floss is the dividing line (you may have to biggie-size the pic to see it) I've just knit the first row of the twisted rib segment. Hoping this yarn will give me the gauge I need.

There has also been a little progress made on the stripey sock. I had to switch to DPNs those circs were driving me crazy for some reason.

Last Friday morning The Saint had his foot surgery so he's been laying around the house looking at this...

I'm trying to talk him into learning to crochet so he can make some hats to give away this winter...stay tuned for any further developments...

One of the benefits of the big-ole-foot is that we've had take-out a couple times in the past week. One night we decided on Thai food and I added an order of Crab Rangoons, they not only looked good they were yummy too.

Hopefully you've all had a great week too. If you'd like to see what some other creative peeps have been doing lately hop on over to Wisdom Begins In Wonder and check out the Fiber Arts Friday posts.

Thanks for coming by, have a great week.

LittleDog says "getting plenty of sleep is very important to healing"

"

don't you agree that he must be well healed? LOL

FAF 8/25/12

This post is part of Fiber Arts Friday. Be sure to check out all the creative folks that post over at Wisdom Begins In Wonder where Andrea is a fabulous hostess.

Hello! I'm so glad you stopped by. By the time this is posted I'll be hanging at the hospital with The Saint. He's having foot surgery and we have to be there at 7:40am... I better get my knitting packed up.

I hope you've had a great week and are looking forward to a fun weekend.

I've been knitting like a crazy person so haven't been spinning much. I'm knitting the heel flap on my second orange/red stripey socks,

I knit a swatch for a sweater I want to knit (yeah, yeah, no smarty comments about swatching)

and have done quite a few rounds on the Serenity Blanket. (worsted weight yarn on size 7 circs)

Last weekend I went to Michigan Fiber Festival...saw lots of fiber friends, beautiful yarn and fiber and some animals. Not sure why but I didn't take a single picture.  Here's the SwampThing I bought though...

Today I found two new projects I want to tackle some time soon...this and this.

This weekend is the big AQS Quilt Show here in town...hopefully I'll get a chance to get over there and check out all the pretty quilts (900 of them!). Can't imagine seeing all of them but I'd like to see a few.

What are your plans for the weekend? Any new knitting projects floating around in your head?

Whatever it is you're up to, I hope it will be fun!

Toodles!

I'm late but I'm here!

Whoa, this day snuck up on me and I have some nice pics to share with you this week. Happy Fiber Arts Friday to you all. Hop over to Wisdom Begins In Wonder to see what else is going on with some other creative peeps.

Sample Sock #4 for Yarn Hollow...

Could you send LittleDog some healing thoughts this next week please? He's having to take some big horse pills for a UTI and I know he feels tortured having to eat all this peanut butter, LOL

I'm off to the Michigan Fiber Fest tomorrow...hopefully I'll have some interesting festival pics to show you next week.

A cool rainy Friday...

Hello! Welcome to this week's edition of Fiber Arts Friday. I hope you find something pretty or interesting while you're here. Please be sure to leave a comment so I know you've visited. Then hop over to Wisdom Begins in Wonder to see all the other creative folks that participate in FAF.

Here is the finished Watermelon Crescent. I used almost all the handspun I had for this project and used the Jenny's Suprisingly Stretchy Bind-off for the finish. Here are linkies to a tutorial and a video version for those who want to learn this indispensible bind-off technique.

See how pretty...

.

I decided to resist the urge to knit til I ran out of yarn and left off the last two rows. I don't think it's going to make any difference and I'm happy with the way it turned out. Now I'll have something to take to work and throw around my shoulders when the a/c is too cold.

A decision will have to be made whether I should put a button on it to hold it together or get a shawl pin. Opinions? I've never used a shawl pin so I wonder how annoying it would be with the pointy parts and all.

I'm leaning toward a button, since I have such a nice assortment of handmade, from The Delicion, buttons...

The Olympics have been playing every day at Chez B. The volleyball and boxing were great. Claressa Shields from Flint is kickin some ass! Which gives us hope for the sport of boxing in the Olympics...the men's judges sucked! There were so many interesting, more obscure, sports on early in the day I was getting up early just to watch them. Judo, fencing, white water rafting...and the two-man canoe race...that last one gave me a backache just watching it. LOL I hope you're all enjoying the games too.

I got the call Wednesday from my local yarn shop that the last couple skeins of Cascade Superwash I needed for the big blankie arrived. As soon as I finish this sock for Yarn Hollow I'll be heavy on the blankie knitting. I only have about 6 wks to get it done, wah!

Enjoy your week and I'll see you next Friday!

I'm such a poser!

It's like a new nose...

LittleDog would like to thank you all for the well wishes for his crusty nose. Just a couple days of salve application got it all fixed up.

Yay, no more crust!

don't adjust your sets...Mom doesn't know how to focus her iPhone

Today's post is part of Fiber Arts Friday, a blog gathering hosted by Andrea over at Wisdom Begins in Wonder. Pay her blog a visit and check out all the creative peeps that post there.

Several of you guessed right that the earbuds where covered with the remants of the Ugly Sock yarn. I'm already planning a different cover so you'll be seeing it soon, I hope.

I'm knitting on three projects at the same time...there will be no knitting boredom around here!  I knit about 8 more rounds on the Fascine Braid sock only to tink back 5 of them last night, ugh. 

I wasn't paying attention to the instructions as I was distracted by the Olympic Games.  I just can't get enough of that sports coverage. First time I'd ever seen Judo...still don't get it. And what's up with that little bitty table tennis table? Where's the rest of it? It's like miniature table tennis...almost expected to see a waterfall or a pirate ship somewhere.

The next big blankie project is underway...

pattern is Serenity Blanket and is available on Ravelry. Yarn is Cascade 220 Superwash, size US 7 needles. I'm just about to the point where I need to switch to circular needles. This is a beautiful blanket when done. I cursed the first one I made but it was totally my fault for watching NCIS while I was knitting.

I've gotten into the next color on the Watermelon Crescent Shawl. I'm hoping to have enough yarn left to finish but it may be a case of yarn chicken toward the end.

This ball of handspun is a bit smaller than a baseball...cross your fingers.

And for my friends who can't get enough of the pug...

and the glamour shot for the week...

pretty dang handsome, hunh? Mwah!

FAF 7/27/12

Wow, I can not believe that it's the end of the week again already. Where did it go? Srsly. It's time for another bunch of Fiber Arts Friday posts over on Andrea's blog called Wisdom Begins in Wonder. You should go check them out. There's some pretty creative folks that gather over there every single Friday.

Thank you for stopping by. Hopefully you'll find something interesting or inspiring.

I've been knitting like crazy on this Crescent Shawl. I'm getting close to being done and running out of yarn, eep. Let's hope the done part comes first.

Looks kinda like a watermelon, don't you think? That was totally not my intention...

A friend is expecting a baby in a few weeks and I was looking for a pattern for a car seat blanket. Since there wasn't one I really liked I'll be designing one myself...

gotta start with an impressive stitch right? I'll show you what I decide on next week.


Do you use earbuds? Do you get tired of them tangling on themselves? I ran across this project on Pinterest and thought I'd give it a try...

works great, no tangles. Do you recognize the yarn? You could win a little prize of you guess correctly.

Last but certainly not least...LittleDog has a crusty nose again. We've been rubbing the salve on it every day. Oh the things a pug has to deal with.

"Don't look at my nose crust, DON'T!"

Have a great weekend!

Back to the fibery stuff

Hello! Welcome to my version of Fiber Arts Friday. Please leave a comment so I know you've been here. Be sure to check out all the other creative folks over at Wisdom Begins in Wonder.

Thanks for stopping by with your anniversary wishes, I really appreciate your kind wishes for my back to be better. Vivian, I did get the donut but it was totally not tasty enough to make the backache worth it. I'm feeling pretty much back to normal now. Over the years I've learned to ignore it and it'll go away when it's ready to, usually after 2 or 3 days of stabbing me occasionally.

We're back to all things fibery this week, with a possible mention of a certain four legged creature later.

I finished my stripey sock and I've cast on a couple of new projects recently and am making pretty good progress with the knitting.

Crescent Shawl with my handspun from Emily's fiber.

Fascine Braid sock for Yarn Hollow is growing slowly...I love this pattern, a lot!

We finally got some rain today but not before every single thing in the backyard was burnt to a crisp. I guess there's always next year for having a pretty yard.

I've got a couple of potential baby projects swirling in my head...can't decide between the Serenity Blanket, one of which I've already made and the Owlie Sack & Hat.  Any opinions would be welcome, thank you.

LittleDog really wanted some popcorn this week...

how could I say no to that face? I love him so.