portable camera be darned, fiber festival goodies part 1

 ETA: this giveaway is now closed, congrats to Michaela and GailGodwin!
Check our next giveaway now live at this link.

Ok, I wasn't able to find the specialized cable for my point & click camera.  I realize that this doesn't bode well for what I'll be cleaning (and how many bad words I'll be taking out and examining) this weekend, but I'll keep looking.... and if I can't find that I'll order a new one.  Take that, technology!

I got a question about the hoodie, which will make an appearance or 4 in the festival post once I manage to get the photos off the point-n-click.  The yarn is Nashua Handknits Creative Focus Superwash, and I picked it up at Webs.  Color 32.  The boarder is in Plymouth Encore color 0240.  The Oatmeal contrast band is just a small band of 2 rows of garter stitching, and then 2 rows of k1, s1 with color held to RS of work, then 2 rows garter stitch.  I'm glad you like it!

I was pretty excited to see the comments on Mom's sweater!  I spent nights up knitting it, and ended up knitting it in 5.5 days over coffee and tears because our ancient cat chewed on the original yarn I'd started knitting it in the first time.  He loves alpaca, and he's ~14ish, so I have to hide my alpaca yarn if I don't want it to be suckled into non-existence.  I foolishly didn't, and ended up buying the Vintage on May 7th for a sweater I had planned to finish for May 5th.

This was Mom's anniversary present, Dad's was supposed to be a gift certificate for Audible but Audible closed down their gift center.  But that's a tale for another blog post.

Anyway, folks are really here for yarn!

So let me introduce you to today's Friday Yarny Goodness:

Yum!

Okay, so as the tag shows, today's yarn feast was purchased at the End of the World Farm booth.  There were a few vendors at this year's Fiber Festival that I was hoping to see.  This wasn't one that I had planned on, but their display was so visually stunning that I ended up running back and buying the above.

This yarn is 100% Tencel.  It drapes and knits like a tightly spun silk, but it is machine wash and dryable.  It's also nigh-unto-impossible to snap.  I don't recommend trying it, it will leave serious dents in your fingers.  On the other hand, the lovely folks at the booth said that tencel yarn wears like steel.  It's tough as nails.  And soft and cuddly, and LOOK at those colors!!

So, although I hadn't planned on them being a highlight of my trip... well, they were.  And a wonderful one to boot.

This is a heavy-lace weight yarn in my book.  And it ladders just like silk if you drop a stitch.  But the drape!  The coolness... it will make perfect warm weather things.

So without further ado, the first of the free yarn!  The lovely gold and orange yarn are in need of owners, and I know there are people who are in need of some really awesome yarn.  I am ashamed to admit, I've already knit up the red... one skein makes a perfect Joie shawl... and I've been arguing with myself about giving away those gorgeous sunny colors.  But I'm going to do it!  Captain Alpaca says it must be done:

If I fight with Captain Alpaca, he might wake me up again in the morning.  And as lovely as he is, he's a bit unnerving full in the face at 5 AM.

So, to enter just leave a comment about what you'd like to try in Tencel and a method to reach you.  One winner for yellow and one for orange will be announced next Friday, and when they're announced the next batch of festival goodies will go up.

When time files...

Sheesh, I got snowed under again!

This is the knitting that's been going on in the meantime:

A hoodie, size 6 needs blocking and buttons sewn on

Pieces of Gudrid, actual color is scarlet.  I'd ask why I can't capture reds... but I think I should just accept it.

Let's get a closer look at that:

detail of unblocked cable, photo still 100% color inaccurate

And then there's this:

spring shawl version in pale green cashmere

 A little of this:

light fortifications:  1 oz peach schnapps, 6 oz gingerale, frozen blueberries

 So I wouldn't be afraid to do this:

Actually, not too bad a representation of the color.

This will be a sweater for meeeeee.  It was a ton of fun, and I have more dye-days planned.  Speaking of dyers check out Tanis!  She's having a giveaway, and the prize is pretty awesome.  Even if you don't see yourself wearing a Wispy cardigan in silk, I'm sure you  know someone who would and would love it.  Just sharing the love!

Next week should be more calm.  At least, that's what I keep telling myself....

Words fail to capture.... thank you!

Today, the mailman assaulted my front porch (a first, since the majority of this winter there have been 3 feet of snow blocking access).  It was completely unexpected, and I figured it was computer parts or something similar for the spousal unit.

Imagine my surprise when I saw a big box:

And it was addressed to me! 

I was caught totally flat footed, but decided to open it and see what was within.

On top was a back issue of Vogue Knitting that I didn't have yet.  And under that.... well take a look!

And the box seemed like Fibber McGee's closet of Mayhem... only pretty and yarn-like!  The more things that came out of the box, the more I found in it.  I suspect some kind of Non-Euclidean Geometry went into packing this box because it contained so much pure awesome it should have taken 2 boxes!

So, first let me show you how the yarn-y (and related) goodness ended up tumbling out:

I did take a shot of each yarn individually, but loved the composite shot best.

Ok, from the back to the front, left to right:
Vogue Knitting Winter 2004/2005, VK Spring/Summer 2006, and VK Fall 2004.
Blue Heron Yarns Rayon/Metallic (500 yds) in Sunrise, Jasmine 100% Silk (!!) color 7025, 8 oz of gorgeous Cream cotton/rayon from Robin and Russ Handweavers, a beautiful blue/purple wool/acrylic/polyamide by Niagara, a pretty spring pastel by Crystal Palace Yarns (Musique, acrylic/wool/cotton), and a fun beachy-Summery ball of Poppy by Tahki Yarns. 
In the very front is a flat of Vanilla block pillar candles (one of which I have lit as I type).

I am filled with awe, gratitude and glee.  This is like getting a box of pure fun, and I'm just fondling these and day-dreaming.  But I have to admit, you haven't seen everything yet.  I haven't shown you what was hiding in the pink paper under the card.

GASP!

This picture isn't as clear as I would wish, the hat has a really sweetly purl'd heart shape.  They are gorgeous and I actually cried happy tears when I opened the package. <3

I love them.

As a matter of fact, I love them so much, the first thing I did was... well, this:

yep, I still photograph badly ;-)

And then my husband caught me chortling around the house and captured this:

He actually caught me running around the downstairs and booty-dancing about in them.

I might be typing this out while ninja-ing.  The scarf/cowl is a long loop with no detectable seaming.  It's awesome as a long loopy cowl, and it loops perfectly 2 times around my neck.  Suddenly, I'm really stoked that we're getting freezing rain!

The person who sent this to me is just amazing.  They have a special eye for the world around them, and use their knitting powers for good on a regular basis.  I am very grateful to the Internet for introducing us, and am honored to have such a 'knit buddy.'  I don't know if they wish to be identified, but if they don't mind I will update with a more direct thank you to this post.

And, really?  Thank you.  So very, very much.

This made my month!

post, post, postedy-post

So this weekend was a marathon of cold-related symptoms and fending off the rough affection of a (much better feeling) 4 year old.  As you probably guess, this means I didn't get anything on my honey-do list done.

So here are some random pictures for you.  This first is what happens when you consistently pick up the incorrect size needles.  The resulting fabric becomes stiff, unmovable, and improper for the pattern.  So you take this mess:

To the frog pond.


You might take a poke at this as well:

A sample for me to keep.  Here's a closeup of the beads/yarn:

And finally, you might fall off the sanity wagon and do a bit of this:

So, that's what I did with my weekend.  How about you?

wait, where did Wednesday go?

Wow, this week has just zipped by.  Or maybe not, I have been kind of swamped at work (but in a productive way for a change).  I am gathering together my various lobster pots and am going into the dark and rarely trodden section of my crafting supplies to fetch out my dying stuff. 

The lobster pots were a yard-sale find and I ended up with 3 of them in decent dying sizes for $5 USD.  They were still in their plastic wrap even, so they were a good deal that has helped me out over the years.  I like to use Dharma Trading Company's dyes for both cotton/linen/rayon types and for protein based stuff like silk/wool.  It's not what I'll be using today on the cotton bags, though.  I have some RIT left over from a fund-raising project, so I'm going to use that up since it's already paid for.

Yeah, not the most exciting combo but it does an acceptable job on cottons.... where I should theoretically be focusing. 

Not sure how much dying will be accomplished today, but I'm going to take a solid stab at it.

I have these waiting in the wings for acid dying:

From right to left, single spun tussah, fingering weight wool, mid-weight alpaca/silk lace, and light-weight lambswool lace. 

I'm looking for a particular tint and haven't been able to find it for sale.  I figure since I know what I want I should take a stab at creating it.  Anyhoo, if you see someone who has dye marks that end at suspicious glove demarcation lines... just pretend I'm not as crazy as I suspect this makes me.

where did the time go?

Today's entry is brought to you by the letter V (as in Vacation and Vomit) and the number 3 (as in the average number of showers per day I've needed since Friday)....

Well, this week is school vacation week.  I took it off to spend some time with the kids.  In some ways I'm very glad I did, as trying to work while a 40 lb moaning creature lays on your lap can be somewhat detrimental to actually getting things done.  In other ways, I look at the knitting I refuse to touch while I am continually bathed in effluvia and sigh.  But, I did do my taxes, so that's something off my mind.

I've been busy.  Very busy.  It might be easiest to do this bit as a photo series.  These are photos of things I've been working on for the show in March at the local coffee shop.  I'm going to give some detail shots, but not too many of the full shawlettes.  I'm hoping they'll be a pleasant surprise for folks in the area who can check them out.  And anything that doesn't find a home from the shop will make it to my artfire store, so it's always possible you'll see them later on that page.

Let's start with this:

malabrigo silky wool in indicita.  Needs ends woven in

Something simple I could knit while being driven places on a weekend.  Which brings us to this:

same yarn, same colorway, testing a concept

Unfortunately, this segues me into these, which I'm debating for the full concept knit:

for the record, going with the bottom for the full size shawl

Yarn makes me think about other yarn.  This was the second package of my last yarn fling.  It had the very pale yellows and the green in the middle above.

I really do like their stuff

Those yellows make me think of a concept that I did out twice.  Once for the show:

detail showing the new increase.  I like this method better.  There aren't missing threads, there are dark beads between leaves.

That one is the shawlette version that uses some really dark red beads.  Then, there's the version that my husband inspired:

to show the natural colored yarn and the pink beads

None of this stuff is blocked, so it does look like limp noodles.  Plus, the two above are in cotton.  The second one with the pink beads is a full sized shawl, but I'm having trouble deciding whether it needs to stay with me as an example of the pattern.  Yep, example of the pattern.... that's my story.  I do not intend to pet it and drool (although we all know that's exactly what will happen).

This leads us to this one.  Same pattern, in a familiar yarn:

man, this is hard to photograph.  It is NOT neon in real life.

Again, showing the increase.  You get a full leaf at the top of each, which almost looks like a flower bud.  I like this effect much better, and have changed the pattern to reflect it.  This may look very familiar.  It is the same yarn I did the original Joie shawl in.  I had just enough left to squeak out a shawlette, so that's what I did.

Then, I think pink.

strawberry smoothie

linen yarn.  Yes, I made a linen shawl.  In worsted weight no less.

And finally, there are these:

don't look like much at the moment

That beauty above is a market bag.  It's made from cotton (also in worsted weight), and I can wash the silly things if the little man has a bad tummy  moment near them.  I love these bags.  I have a bunch, and there are 2 ways to knit them that create 2 very different types of mesh just using a yo, k2tog as the "lace" pattern.  I started with these because I found that the grocery bags you can buy are not typically washable... making them really heinous germ magnets.  I actually have 4 different sizes and styles that I make, and figured that since I can't work on 'ettes at the moment, maybe I'd see if the local coffee place would want these as well. 

Anyhoo, I am hoping small tummies are quiet tomorrow so I can 1 knit, 2 blog, 3 work on hang-tags.  All the fun things in life and cleaning the kitchen too!

lady sings the blues, giveaway 2

ETA:  Contest now closed, please enjoy the comments!  And thank you to all who entered!

The end of 2010 went out with a bang.  Given all that happened last year, it's with mixed feelings that we bid it good-bye.  It's kind of like the song "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine."  There was a lot of sad, bad, and just plain confusing.  But there was also good company, fine friends, laughter, love, and the joy of life.

Good-bye 2010, you won't be forgotten.

With a new year to try to remember to put on random paperwork, I figure let's start on the right note!

It's Monday, the sky is the kind of blue poets can't seem to do justice to, there's turkey soup simmering in the kitchen (thank you Mommy!), and I've been feeling creative.  So, here's a new giveaway in the new year to celebrate all of our creativity.

Sorting through the stash, I found these beauties:


2 Skeins of Cascade 220 handpaint (worsted)

blues, greys, purples

One skein of Ella Rae Latte (Chunky)

Royal blue, made with milk

And finally one skein Scarlet Fleece It's Tubular (Sock weight)

purples, blues, blacks

There will be 3 winners for this giveaway, and I'll toss in a set of free instructions for a winter project for each in case the winners want a little inspiration.  The winners can use said instructions to make something, to light a fire, or even to line pet cages.   *Insert knit-eating grin here*

So, here's the details:
Leave a comment on this post letting me know what your favorite way to beat winter blues is.  On January 10, I'll use the lovely random number generator to pick some winners, and then ship the loot post-haste.  I will announce here, and email winners (leave an email where I can contact ya?  I really do want to get prizes out so folk can enjoy them!!) to let them know as well.

Without further ado, 2010, here's your (non-traditional version of this) song

cold enough for bulky!

This weekend, I spent my time building instead of knitting.  Tomorrow before work I will take some pictures, and will hopefully have them posted by evening after work.  My Dad and I spent a long, cold day re-framing the short wall on the porch and putting the windows into the frames we had built previously. 

The windows look good.  But mainly, they keep wind off the back wall where the pipes are.  At least in part.  Getting the north wall in will keep wind off that wall altogether.  It was a long, cold day and I spent most of the weekend in a world of hurt.  I suspect my Dad was in just as bad shape, but he is pretty stoic.  On the way home I bought some nice black alpaca yarn to make him a cowl in. 

Friday, we've tentatively agreed to meet again for a final mutual torture session.  Ah, old houses.  So much work....

I'm blocking a third shawl for the blog which has been mentioned here, and I have a project that I'm excited to share shortly.  I'm not sure if it's an insanity or brilliance, or maybe some heady mixture of the two.  I did a beading project that was so heavy I couldn't use my hands after the last day of beading it.  The knitting was so satisfying, and the weight of the sucker is so pleasantly solid... but I didn't think out the process very well.

I'm looking forward to blogging that one, very much. 

Finally, I found that one of my favorite lace weight yarns is being discontinued.  *sob*
Sappho, I will miss you.

If you like lace weight knitting, this stuff feels like knitting velvet.  I've got a bit that I'm going to use in the project, but I can't buy all of it and hoard it like the precious lovely thing it is.  So, maybe some of you will love it the way I do.  The skeins I've gotten have all been slightly felted.  At first, I wasn't thrilled with that, but after knitting it, I love it with a dire and unnatural love.  I might toss over silk to knit this stuff.  On purpose.  So, if you like working with lace weight single spun yarns, give them a look.  It won't be around for long.

More later,
me

Whee!

Guess who is in the mail??

Little Bundles of Joy!

I wasn't able to get them out yesteday as planned, work interfered.  But they are in the mail as of 10 minutes ago, and on their way!  Graywolfie and TuttleDB, I have packages for you too.  Please let me know where I can send them :)

So, now what?  I've just finished binding off the Mary Mary Quite Contrary Shawl.  It's unblocked and... lovely. 

Bleah.  Man they look ugly before they block.

Here's a closeup of the unblocked edging

Poor ugly duckling.

If you can stand to stare at a pile of noodles, you can just see the lines it will take on once it's blocked.  Tomorrow, I'll block it and you'll see a difference.

Speaking of blocking, remember this guy?

Manos del Uruguay

Well, he's blocking out on the bed as I type.  I think he looks quite well, but I may be something of a biased observer.

See, cute?  Cute!  (knitter=biased)

I do have a secret project that I can't post here.  It's a gift, and I don't want to spoil the recipient's surprise.

I'm considering this as my next project

Mini Maiden in Ocean.  Not enough blue on this blog.

No matter what this skein turns into, it'll be gorgeous.  Can't beat Fleece Artist for beauty and fantastic fibers.

Based on the comments and feedback from our giveaway post, I've decided to coalate and put together my shawl patterns.  The comments were unanimous in favor of it, and I think it will be a fun thing to do.  So I'll be translating my notes, which look something like this (for the most part)

I'm sure there's math there somewhere

Into something readable by people who have better ordered minds.  Truthfully, not all of my patterns are that messy.  But this is the middle lace bit and side increases of Joie, as I used it.  Chilling, isn't it?  That other in pencil is the edging I put on Mary Mary.  I hope that folks will enjoy the patterns as much as I've been enjoying writing and knitting them.  I actually have a copy of Intwined Studio, so writing up the charts and written instructions will be much simpler than trying to get my graph paper scrawls into good order.

I'm going to be writing up the pattern for the Serious Scarf.  I'm thinking of offering that as a free pattern on the site to go with the triangle shawl.  A rectangle and a triangle, sounds good to me.

Anyway, thank you for reading and happy knitting!

The post you've been waiting for (me too)!

So here we are, and I'm all a-twitter.  First I want to thank the lovely folks who commented & gave me some direction.  I really appreciate the feedback, it helps me to not be a ruthless tyrant concerned with ruling the world.  You know, on a knitting scale.

Since we had 5 total comments, I didn't use the random number generator (random.org).  I used the time-tested child labor.

So we started like this:

All of our lovely commenters!

Which were separated, and put into this:

My black sheep mug.

Then I demanded help from the most random person in the house

He puts his hands in that mug all the time, this time he just had permission to do it.

At which point, the hand of fate chose names

So we made a list of the names pulled out in order as so

Read like knitting chart, bottom up.

If we recall from the original post, each name was entered to win one of the prizes being offered.  In that post there were only 3 prizes, so you  may be wondering why we pulled all 5 names.  Before I get into the next bit, let me explain.  I decided that the pool of candidates was not so large to choose from that everyone couldn't be a winner in our first giveaway.  So I set up a bag of goodies, and let little man pull the yarn for the names.  Because the 2 additional prizes are (in my opinion) just as fabulous as the originals, they were put in there for everyone to benefit from as well.

The yarn bag

So, as it stands we have 5 winners, yaaaaaaaaay!

First name pulled was One Sheep.  Little man pulled this from the yarn bag first.  He says it is very soft.

He's right, this is sooo soft to knit with.  Hope you love it!!

The next name pulled was Graywolfie.  And from the bag o goodies, our little man snagged one of our surprise goodies.  You get one of my favorite colorways in one of my favorite blends!

300 yards silk/wool blend in colorway indecita

Next up is Kitten with Whiplash!  Little man pulled out this prize for you from the bag of yarn.

You grabbed the cashmere/mink!

My cats love my cashmere/mink shawl, so I hope you'll love your cashmere mink yarn!

Next, the small hand of fate chose TuttleDB.  And for your prize, he pulled a fun one.

Fleece Artist!!

I was surprised that the Fleece Artist yarns made it until last, but the boy is completely random.  He declairs this yarn to be soft and woolie.

Last, but not least, the boy pulled DMPattersall.  The last yarn to be pulled was waiting for you, but I hope you won't be disappointed!

fleece artist blue faced leicester

Be aware, this contains higher lanolin content, and so smells a little closer to the sheep.  It is soft, the nature of the wool is to have a natural sheen, and it feels divine to knit.  550 fingering weight yards of one of my favorite Fleece Artist Colorways in one of my new favorite fibers!

Congrats to all of you!!  And thank you all for your feedback and encouragement.  Please email me privately where you want your prizes sent!!  Email to marveloustoy @ yahoo . com (remove the spaces, and it will get to me) and I'll pop your loot in the mail!  I've taken the liberty of emailing the folks whose emails addresses I can access.  But Graywolfie and TuttleDB, I need to hear from both of you as I haven't been able to snag your mail addresses (possibly due to being blind or crazy).

Edited to add:  If you like someone else's prize better, feel free to haggle.  Just let me know what you decide amongst yourselves :)

Okay, thank you all for reading this far, and happy knitting.