Tuesday, May 27, 2008

I've been knitting

Geez. I just saw that it has been almost a month since I posted. I don't really know where that time has gone! I guess it was consumed with my hubby's birthday, our son's birthday, mothers' day, and general Spring fever!

I've been doing lots of knitting. I know, I know-- I need to post some pictures. I really stink at that. I made my mom a pair of socks with Spunky Eclectic's Popsicle yarn which I got from Woolgirl. It makes the most fantastic socks, and my mom coveted mine (knit late last year) so I had to make a second pair for her!

I finished my feather and fan stole done in Schaefer Laurel, the Queen Lili'ukalani colorway (oranges, green, tuquoise and purple). I'm quite pleased with it. It's my first real lace work, and it came out pretty well. As far as lace goes, I think this was a pretty easy pattern.

I'm about 2/3 of the way done with a pinwheel blanket for my daughter. I'm making it a little on the large side (as opposed to just baby size) so that it will be usable for a while. She's 4 (going on 24), but very petite, so I think a blanket that is about 4' in diameter will do for a good while. I seem to have a knack for picking yarns that are discontinued, and this one is no exception. I'm doing her pinwheel in Cabo Verde pink and white. I think I have all the yarn I will need for it, but I may need an extra skein for the border.

My Lace Ribbon scarf is about 1/3 of the way done. I'm doing that in Bonnie's Bamboo yarn by Farmhouse. This is my new favorite yarn. It is glorious to work with, and has such beautiful drape and feel-- it is SO soft. I 'm doing the scarf in blue. And I'm using the same yarn in a rose shade for a scoop neck "tshirt" sweater. I haven't gotten all too far on that. It's a top-down affair, and I made it to the point where the sleeves get moved on to scrap yarn, and then I got sidetracked. I guess that is one of the many downfalls to having a million projects going at once.

Oh, and I started a Clapotis. I gave up on the Malabrigo version I began last fall. As much as I love the Malabrigo, the clappy was going to be way too heavy for Houston. I picked Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Edgewater.

I've been on a sock tear, too. I am nearly finished with a pair for my dear husband. I have 3 pairs to do before we go to Lake Michigan this summer (for family gifts), and I got a Hello Kitty kit from Woolgirl that I purchased for the express purpose of making my daughter some socks. She absolutely loves HK, so the kit was an enormous hit with her, and she loves the yarn. How long can it take to make a pair of socks for a 4 year old?! Anyone have a pattern suggestion? I just need a simple, basic pattern...

Hmm. What else? I guess that is the update on my projects. Summer is almost here for real. It's already in the mid- 90's here in H-town. Our son gets out of school for the summer in another week. The pool is calling but I must keep knitting!

Thursday, May 01, 2008

Good signs?

Today's post relates somewhat to each of my last two posts. I am in a funk of epic magnitudes. Don't worry. I'm not out on a ledge or anything! I'm not THAT funk-i-fied. I've been feeling crummy lately and that's all there is to it. But I got a terrific treat today that lifted my spirits!

Yesterday Purl stopped by my office to show me the yarn she had gotten from a club she is in. It's the Mama Llama yarn club. I have to tell you, Catherine at Mama Llama does some of the most beautiful colorwork I've seen. The dying is seamless and her colors are so pretty even if I don't necessarily like the color! Her yarns are impeccable. That brings us to the relation to my rant on purple in a previous post. Mama Llama was the dyer on the most recent Woolgirl sock club shipment. I was disappointed at first when I saw the spoiler pics and found out it was purple yarn coming. (I HATE PURPLE!!!) But once it arrived and I saw it in person, I had to admire the yarn because of Catherine's skill. It says a lot about her art to be able to say that she made me like a purple yarn!!!

So, yesterday, when Purl came by to show me her new Mama Llama, I knew I was in for a treat. This yarn was so drop-dead gorgeous that I literally grabbed in and started running. Okay, I only went about 5 steps and then walked back and handed it back over. I've seen lots and lots and lots of yarn that makes me swoon, but this one just says Cindy all over it. My favorite colors on earth are blue and orange. And one of my favorite color combos is blue and brown. This yarn is a mix of blues/turquoise and tans/browns. It is stunning. And it is literally my favorite skein of yarn ever. Having seen it sent me directly to the Mama Llama Etsy store looking for anything comparable. Not finding similar a colorway, I did spy something else that I couldn't live without (see, that relates to my post of yesterday!) and I placed an order for it.

Then, I was on Ravelry and posted on the club's shipment thread, saying that if anyone wanted to part with theirs, I would buy it! Well, I came in this morning and the insanely generous Catherine had read my post and treated me to a little something to soothe my yarn envy. Not only is it not purple, but it's some of my favorite colors ever. It is amazing the power that yarn has over me. I've been grinning like an idiot ever since! Thank you, Catherine, for your random act of kindness! Yarnies are the best people ever.