9 posts from August 2007

'Cause I can always find some of that.

I kind of live under a rock, especially if I've been working a lot.  Case in point:  Barely coming up for air all day yesterday, and doing an amputation on an adorable little kitty over my lunch hour because I'm a soft touch now and then.

So I didn't hear about the whole Mystery Stole phenomenon until it was well into MS3.  And I didn't want to jump into the middle.  HOWsomever....  The Nautical Knitter has begun a new KAL that begins in October, entitled "The Secret of the Stole."  If you're interested, follow the link in my button bar to the left.  (Open it in a new window, or you'll get it in that tiny little narrow frame.  Sorry about that, I'm rather new to Vox and don't know how to code to open a new window FOR you).  I'm now looking for I think a pale blue hand dyed lace yarn to knit it in.  I know she says earthy colors, but I'm in a bluish sort of mood.  So there.

I also just discovered the Woolgirl  (I know, I know), and I'm having a yarn lust attack:

Well, I have my Sock Swap pal assignment, and she is a Hufflepuff-ian.  So time to bliss out in black and gold.  A small item for the bag has been bid on.  Shopping lists have been made.  Data has been gathered. 

I'm shopping the Loopy Ewe, Shelby Knits, MacKintosh yarns, Dharmafey, and Sunshine yarns at the moment.  We'll see if she want House Color yarn or something else Potter-themed.  Then I need to contemplate stitch markers.  And finish designing the Bag.  Have ideas, must sketch.

I'm NEARLY done with the first of my "Falling Leaves" socks.  Photos later.  And I'm going to try to be disciplined and cast on the second right away.  Rather than going for the hat.  ;-)

Sign-ups for the Hogwarts Sock Kit Swap end today, so then I should know who my pal is.  That will help, since I've got inspirations about the bag and yarn, but haven't done anything about it yet.

I'm working in Shelby today, which means more knitting time.  Mostly because I really can't do anything else up there.  The rest of the week I'll be in Whitehall, so I can maybe do a little costuming.  We shall see.

So another Fiber Fest has come and gone.  (Well, I could make another foray today, but since I've spent my allotment, I won't.  ;-)

I got some nice goodies though.  Here's the overview:

The pattern is for an upcoming swap.  I wanted to get something for my pal that can't be found in any ol' knitting store.  This one is a local vendor.  Apparently she even sometimes has a booth at the Grand Rapids Farmer's Market.  Liked her stuff, but was shopping for sock yarn and hers was heavier than I like.  And her pallette was a little limited.  Still, nice stuff.

Then I hit The Fold.  Toni Neil gets the bulk of my budget for 'Fest every year.  I asked her why this was and she replied without missing a beat "It's an Evil Plot"  *g*

After much indecision, I ended up with "Blue Hawaii" from Stone Barn Fibers, and "Stormy Days" from Claudia.  According to Toni, both are painted on the same base yarn.  Which I already know  I like, so all's well there.  She had some Socks That Rock, which I really wanted to try.  But again, nothing in a weight I wanted that I liked the color of.  And the Seduction was a bit more than I wanted to spend.  There were lots of other vendors with Merino/Tencel blends that were about 1/2 the price.  Since I don't know if I'll even like it, I went with one of those.

The top skein is "Plush" by Yarn Hollow.  It's a plum and brown combo for Dad.  She had lots of different sock yarns, but by the time I swung by, the color selection was limited.  The bottom skein is from Ellen's 1/2 Pint Farm.  She doesn't label her skeins, so I have no idea what the colorway is.  But that on is a tencel blend.  I debated between that, the bamboo, and the crab shell stuff.  But this was the shiny one.  *g*

And I got a stitch holder:

I'm a hedonist at heart, and I have high class taste.  So this was my indulgence.

Now.... off to actually knit.  Darling wants to go to Siciliano's for some brewing supplies.  I may knit in the car today, since it's a dreary day and we'll probably spend it wandering GR.

My other two yarn purchases were from different booths

Signups for the Hogwarts Sock Swap 3 are on.  I have a button if you scroll down.   I suggest right clicking and opening a new window, or you'll open it in a frame in the side of my blog. 

And Fiber Fest fast approaches.  Yips!  Hopefully I'll get one or more of my little checks in the mail soon so I have money to spend. 

I have come to the sad conclusion that I will not receive an invitation to join Ravelry until they officially go live out of Beta.  :-(  Which serves me right for deleting off all messages regarding it at first since I had no clue what it was.  I REALLY need to prune the number of E-mail lists I'm on.  It tends to mean that I delete anything that doesn't sound interesting from the subject line.  Which will shoot me in the foot when discussions change and nobody changes the subject line.

Still, I already have a Flickr account, so I can start taking pictures of my stuff and uploading it.  And I can still go have fun at Fiber Fest next weekend.

The shopping list for Fiber Fest continues.  (Whenever I refer to it thusly, the Muggles think I'm off to eat bran flakes and study colonics.  *sigh*)  I invite you to check out the event site.  I will grant the website sucks.  But the shopping is absoTOOTly fabulous.  Compare the vendor's list with SOAR.  So, since Fiber Fest is closer for me, AND has more goodies.... enough said.

List includes:  Merino/Tencel sock yarn (Socks that Rock Seduction, for preference)
                     Yarn to knit Chateau Marnier for Mom for Christmas
                     Cashmere yarn for Wine and Roses gauntlets for Mom for Christmas
                     Row Counter bracelet
                     Stitch markers
                     More Lanaset dyes to play with
                     Cutesy tidbits to squirrel away for Secret swap type stuff
                     Whatever strikes my fancy and puts me over budget.

So we'll see what I actually come home with.  I'll bring along the yarn requirements from "The Secret Garden" from The Children's Collection by Jade Starmore for the Muffin, just in case.

Maybe I'll even get a little jumper weight shetland yarn to play with fair isle knitting, if I see a good deal.

Rethinking the patterns/sock yarns....   I think I'll try to get the Harry Potter spell-themed pattern out of my head and onto paper.  And I think I might use it for the next Hogwart's Sock Swap.  If it goes well, I might try to put it up as a .pdf.  I'm not sure how that works, but I suspect I'd need an actual website with a shopping cart function.  Still, it's a pipe dream with legs.  The one running 'round in my head seems to want to be called "Stunning" and has a wand emitting sparks.  Maybe I'll dye some yarn that has black, with a blending repeat of deep cobalt, blue violet, royal purple, red violet, and red.  *ponder*

I often daydream (usually when behind the wheel - beware) about what all I could get done with all the time in the world.  Lately, shopping for sock yarn has brought me a new musing.  If I had the time and facilites, I've all these ideas knocking around in my head for themed sock-of-the-month club offerings.  Maybe I ought to just start on working out the pattern designs in case I ever get it in my head to try.  Currently running laps in my cranium are a "Famous British Queens" series - featuring Boudicca, Grania Mor, Eleanor of Aquitane, Anne Boleyn, Mary of Scots, and Victoria; "Fairytales" - with Rapunzel, the Sleeping Beauty in the Woods, Rumpelstilskin, Snow White, The Tinderbox, and Patient Grizelda (options for a 2nd series also leap to mind), and one based on various spells from Harry Potter.  Those I haven't narrowed down yet.  So, look for these to come to at Etsy shop near you - in my next life.  *sigh*

I'm setting up a new blog here to use for various exchanges, knitting content, and other crafty things.  That way partners in secret pal exchanges aren't forced to slog through personal stuff or re-enactment based posts, and friends and fellow re-enactors and forced to wade through my progress on my "Falling Leaves" socks, etc.  For anybody interested, my "other" blog is at this location.

Later on I'll post pictures of said socks.  And I'm busy making my shopping list for Fiber Festival.  I think I'll be half-way intelligent this year.  I'm going to inventory what dyes I have, and which I think would be most useful.  So I'll have to page back through "Color in Spinning."  And I'll bring along yarn requirements for a few of the projects I'm thinking about making.  That way, if I see something suitable, I'll know how much I need.  Though I do want sock yarn.  That's my "buy whatever looks pretty with no regard to usefulness" item.  I'll let myself get whatever strikes me.  Beyond that, I want some hand-dyed worsted weight for a baby hat.  And possibly enough tweedy yarn in a color that moves me to do "The Secret Garden" coat for Her Imperial Cuteness.

I must say, that while I love the Starmores' patterns, I don't really care for their attitude toward knitters in general.  So I'm in no huge hurry to put any more money in their pockets.  Therefore, I'll probably knit some of the designs in "The Children's Collection" and "The Celtic Collection."  But I'm darned sure not buying the yarn packs from them.  I'm still kicking myself for not buying "Tudor Roses" when it was at my LYS.  If ever I happen across it for a decent price, I'll still pick it up.  At some point, once I get a chance to invest in a spinning wheel, I'll be able to spin yarns myself, and not sorry about trying to find commercial substitutions.

I also preordered a couple of books:

Romantic Hand Knits