Weaving, like I needed more things to do.

I have been so busy over the past 5 weeks. I took my very first weaving class, it ended this tuesday, having woven 4 placemats you would think I would have pretty much had my fill of weaving for a while, that is if you know me, that I really didn't have much interest in weaving going into this, it was supposed to just leapfrog me into being able to hold my own at an upcoming linen weaving class at Burr house, date yet to be set.
Well, that plan of not weaving much more completely went to pot, I wove a small stole for Katherine, and have enough warp left to do one for Elizabeth. I am currently warping my loom for some stripe work, I only have a table loom, so can't fit a full size tea towel on it, I figured at 2/3rd size I was also pushing it, so plopped onto the idea of doing little towels for the kitchen, the girls are always driving me crazy looking for towels in the kitchen, so thought 6 little things would be nice, my towel draw is full to bursting, but all it takes is one time for Katherine to get her paws on the drawer to empty it completely. Too many towels is never enough.

This is the stole on the loom.
















This is the placemats.















Since I last posted, I have passed along the baby blanket to the lady that ordered it, she was very pleased with the blanket, and I breathed a huge sigh of relief.















In future when I am blocking I shall take a picture, and I shall look at picture to see if the thing looks remotely like the shape it is supposed to be.

A visit, an FO and a pain.

Wannietta came to our spinners guild last week. I t was so great to finally meet her. She is as bubbly as she appears on her blog, she is as into knitting as you would expect, she is also a very nice person, and can knit like a devil........

I felt insanely slow knitting next to her, I can't imagine how one could get any faster than that.

Her talk about the speed competition was great, I would like to go to the Creative Festival now this year just to see the speed knitting.
I may well have to teach a bit of spinning to Wannietta too, this is cool, I love to share spinning with people, while I am no expert (nowhere close) just a spin to knit kinda person actually, I really enjoy the feeling of creating my own yarn. It gives me an opportunity to meet Wannietta again too, which I suspect could be a lot more fun than the meeting at the guild where we didn't get much opportunity to talk.

I did see a bit of a secret project, and what I saw I liked, but it wasn't enough to give away anything, so I too have to wait!


I finally finished my Fair isle cardi, it dressed out nicely, but needs a bit of a firmer dressing in the sleeves, which I suspect I may have to alter before I am totally happy.














I wound some balls of the cobweb silk I have ready to knit the wedding ring shawl from Heirloom knitting, it took almost 45 minutes to wind these two little balls, thats a lot of yarn in those two little bundles. I am busting a gut to start the shawl but desperately want to finish the Princess before I start another huge project, so Princess has been dragged out, kicking and screaming, to the top of the lace basket, which is currently quite full.
I just couldn't let go of wanting to start a new lace project, so I started another simply stunning project, the Jade shawl in yellow, it is looking good so far, so this is project three on the needles of Heirloom knittings. Yet I still kept going back to the wedding ring shawl, wanting to start, I got as far as checking needle sizes, I found my 2.25 mm needles after a bit of hunting, they are in my Unst stole! That's project 4 of HK's designs..... I should finish at least one before I put the big project onto the needles, it will be hard. I have a birthday coming up, and was sure I was going to order the Cora shawl kit as a pressie to myself, but here's the bitch, it's another HK design, and while I obviously adore her designs, I also just as obviously have issues with finishing them. While I have finished lots of them having 4 on the needle right now isn't sitting too well with me.


Here is some Princess progress, and a kind of marker for me to see how much I do in months to come.

Another busy week.

Two weeks ago I got a call asking if I had any baby blankets I could sell, I didn't so so the next question was if I would make one. After heitating for a while I agreed to it.
I couldn't pick a pattern, so decided to make one from my own rather busy little mind.

I finished last night.

I have to block it as it is to go to it's new home tomorrow I hope.














In the time I made the blanket, I also made a number of mindless pieces, scarfs and dishcloths really, I have been eyeing this sari silk stuff for a while and finally caved and bought a skein. I wasn't impressed..... Tree trunk needles equal burning hands for me, as it turns out most things on the needles for me right now are on big needles. Not fun. I need some tiny lace to correct my poor fingies.












I will be starting back on the indigo top this week, also my fairisle cardi that is languishing again. Two or three other lace projects fill in the gaps, and scarfs are the sealers.















Last week Babydoll had a birthday. She was 4! Big girl now, she can beat me on the gamecube, draw really cool pictures, dry dishes, help to cook dinner, she is growing in leaps and bounds.















This week is proving to be busy too. I have weaving again today, lesson 3/5. The weaving bit! Wahooooo.

Tomorrow is guild meeting night, Wannietta is coming to visit with us and talk about her knitting title. This is turning out to be good timing, I had forgotten that the Needlework festival is later this month, this is where Wannietta got her title at.

I hope the title stays just where it is.

I was supposed to go to a yarn sale on saturday, but just couldn't make it, considering the stash busting I am supposed to be doing, it's probably a good thing.

I am back to not having anything on the box to watch, I have a few dvd's I never have watched, Elizabeth, Katherine, and their aunt and Uncle watched one of them on Saturday, they enjoyed it, so I guess I should now too. It was the new Pink Panther movie with Steve Martin. I have held back on watching this as I really love the old movies of the Pink Panther, and nobody but Sellers in my mind could be the Pink Panther. We shall see....
I keep seeing Pink Panther DVD's everywhere, I may well cave and get the box set!


Anyway, back to fibre things, I may well remember to take my camera with me to the lesson today, so will post back with news on how it went tomorrow. Hopefully I remember to take a picture of the baby blanket after blocking.

Something more

Than my usual rambling, today we have pictures! woohoo!!!!

I will get to more photo's again later, but for now there are my Babydoll's first day at school pictures. I was so proud of her.

Here she is just about to go into class, still looking rather worried. Note the purple buttons on the blue cardigan, yes the birthday cardi turned into the first day of school cardi, the button band needs to be recast off, it's a bit snug. Katherine was given final decision on pattern, yarn and buttons, I tried hard to convince her, but she was adamant that the purple were the buttons she needed. They aren't too bad.


















Here she is at the end of the day with her new friend, a girl we didn't even know that lives about 3 houses away from us, and is even in Katherine's class. Behind the two new buds is Elizabeth, the bus buddy!!! How grown up she is now. Somewhere behind her is her friend Andrew, I think he is cute on her.





















I was so confused yesterday morning, it was the first time in more than 8 years I haven't had a child running around during the day time, sure there has been occasional days when Ron has had the two out for the day, but yesterday was different. the first few hours of the morning I was sneaking around trying not to disturb Katherine sleeping, only to remember she wasn't in bed. My Babydoll can sleep, I was concerned about her staying awake at school. Sleep is a bad thing to her, she doesn't like to go to bed, but once she is asleep she can go down for a very long time. If she doesn't get enough sleep at night she is sleepy and drowsy in the morning if woken up, but if she is left to sleep it out then she is fine.

Eventually I got used to the idea of having no child to hold me back, and went to the guild to card some wool (yeah, exciting) only to discover that the drum carder was broken, so I took it home for Ron to fix, which he did, then I spent a few hours carding last night, and finally did a bit of spinning.

So who is gonna win Rockstar??????????????

I have been following supernova since week 3, and said Magni straight off the bat, but after the rather uninspiring performance last night I have to think the fans may go off a bit, the other choice for me is Toby, Ron doesn't like him though, we both love Lukas though, he is brilliant, and as a performer I would love to see more of him, just not with Supernova I don't think, he is the local boy and I should show support for him I guess, but I just think Magni has got it. Ron who hasn't watched much of the show agree's with me. He seems to suit the band to a tee!
I don't usually watch reality shows, but I started watching this when Cheryl my sis was here from the UK, her fave was Lukas.
Unfortunately for me it is guild night tonight, and I am meeting a woman there that I know from a knitting list I am on. I will miss the show~~~~~
Thank goodness for Rogers digital terminals, I get the show in different time zones, yeah, so I think I will get to see it at west coast time.


Katherine has been growing tomato's, we have had no rain all summer, the tomato's really suffered for it, but on Sunday Katherine finally got here tomato! This has been tomato watch 2006, it seemed like forever, and poor Babe was losing interest until they finally changed colour.


















Finally on a little knitting news, I caved, big time, and started another knit your own mystery Pi shawl. I am almost done clue two, 3 will be out on friday, the first few clue's get knit up quickly, the start of a Pi shawl is always pretty fast, here is clue one, looks like nothing right now, but it is already on a circular, when clue 2 is done I will post another piccie.



















I have so many things I have on needles, or expectantly waiting to be started that I think I am suffering for it, I can't make my mind up what I will work on. I have done little quick things for the past few days, then a bt here, a bit there on lot's of different things, to then turn to start another thing only to stop myself again.
I did take to heart something that another blogger had said.
Wannietta, it's all your fault, LOL, you have to love an enabler, and that is indeed what the wicked woman has done to me.
I loved her post about indigo yarn, so much that when I fell across a pattern in a box at the guild, for a indigo yarn item, it felt pre determined that I would make this. So off I went and got yarn enough for the item, turns out the LYS was having a yarn sale that week ( I had no idea) I got the yarn half off, returned home to start the item, it was a vest, I don't wear vests, don't even ask why I wanted to make it. I couldn't find the pattern, and I knew I didn't have enough yarn for a sweater, so I started one, LOL!
It's gorgeous, but on return to the store to get more yarn I found that it had all gone. order, wait, no phone call, worry, finally I got fed up and called them. It will be in later this week with a bit of luck, crisis averted.

The sweater is gorgeous, it isn't the same Rowan denim that Wannietta used, but it is still gorgeous, and certainly leaves a lot of blue on the old mitts. I can't wait to finish and wash it for the first time. I haven't been so excited about a knitting item since, well, the last one I cast on.


Finally, I just had to post this link, I left it to Wannietta in the comments, but I don't think it was possible to get the whole link from there.

F1 article

Nuff said!

Urmmm....Update!

Well, I am a week past all my company leaving, and as great as it was to have them all here, they left my all tuckered out, which is why I am only just getting around to the blog now. Last week was a blur, bank holiday monday, followed by back to school on tuesday for Elizabeth, and an orientation session for Babydoll, who starts Junior Kinder this coming tuesday, wednesday was the start of the guild year, and since I am now on the executive committee I figured I should be there. That meeting added a whole slew of new activities for the upcoming months, including meeting with Wannietta at the October meeting, the OHS seminar, the sheep to shawl, a Try something new event in town and so many other things that my mind is a blank.
Today I found out that one of the women on the knitting in canada group I am on (where I first met Wannietta) is in the same town as me, so now I think a meeting is inevitable here. AWESOME!! Finally a network of knitters may emerge in this ever expanding town just north of the big T.O!

Photo's? I have lots, but not of enough things, and to be honest I couldn't care less about posting them right now, they are in a mess, just as my mind feels it too is a mess. I didn't take some piccies of the few FO's that went back to Britain, including one of those lovely Heirloom knitting SImply stunning shawls! I can get pictures later though, no worries. I will do a post on photo's maybe tueday, I have a whole day to myself!!!!!!!!! (yippee)

Thought of the day, (other than shabby mind!) Utter glee, Michael Schumacher retiring not only from Ferrari, but also from the F1 circuit.
I was never a fan, a fan can't get me to say he wasn't a damn good driver, as he obviously was, but I never liked him. He's had his day, move over and let the young ones gain some glory.

Busy times

Sorry I haven't posted in a long time, my sister and family are visiting from Britain, we did all the typical tourist trap stuff last week, and are taking it easy this week.
I have been busy knitting, until they got here, and have barely lifted the needles since. I am working on the green moss shawl from simply stunning line of Heirloom knitting, in the rowan colour heavenly. My sister brought the wool over for me. It cost me 38 GBP's for 4 balls of Rowan KSH and 2 balls of heirloom knittings merino. Quite the deal. I did get a bit of Princess done before the masses arrived, but haven't touched it since. I have two green moss shawls to make first, then will gt back to that and the million other things lying on the top of my knitting basket.

Gotta go, I'm missing out on all the fun.

My life

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said 'I love you' and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby's diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales(I was actually so close to doing this, was supposed to be there right now, so this is on my list for next year.
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer then you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your cds
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Posed nude in front of strangers
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an "expert"
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Had a one-night stand
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror.
96. Raised children
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
98. Created and named your own constellation of stars
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an illness that you shouldn't have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Petted a stingray
110. Broken someone's heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Petted a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey
135. Selected one "important" author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146: Dyed your hair
147: Been a DJ
148: Shaved your head
149: Caused a car accident
150: Saved someone's life



This is pretty cool, I was amazed at how many I had done. I go this from momcast

There are so many things on the list I would love to do, I hope at some later date in my life I can check off more than I did this time.