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Showing posts from 2008

Noro Striped Scarf

Hi, I finished a quick project over the holiday, too. It is a Noro Striped Scarf, a bit of a "bandwagon" knit a the moment, popularized by Brooklyn Tweed , but I couldn't resist the colors and simplicity. Happy Knitting, Lisa Kay

Fibery Goodness

Hi, In addition to many toys, there were some fiber-related treats for Mommy. :) Santa (with advisement) brought a set of Addi interchangeable needles! Yea! There were also carders... and fiber to card... (ordered with every intention of mixing...) This is merino in the colorways "Ruby Red" and "Crocus," from Alpaca Direct. Here is some of the fiber, carded. Still a lot to go... The "ruby red" and "crocus" amounts to a pound and a half, total. (One pound of ruby red, and one half of crocus.) Happy Knitting (and Carding and Spinning), Lisa Kay

Christmas Castles

Hi, We had a great Christmas, here. The holiday season is a treat when there is a three-year-old in the house. There were trains and castles and knights... barns, horses, Indians, covered wagons... Neato! Happy Knitting, Lisa Kay

Mailbox Down!

Hi, When I moved into the house in 2001, there was a big controversy in the home-owner's association about acceptable mailboxes. The only ones allowed in the covenants were three particular wrought iron designs. There was an amendment to allow brick. After that went through, I built my own brick mailbox, using brick that the builder gave me, along with some "homemade" bricks with glass inlays. I made the bricks, the number plate, and the top stone, with mortar mix and glass "stones" you can get at craft stores (for flower arrangements and stuff like that). My father-in-law once commented that the one thing about that mailbox was that it would still be there after the apocalypse. It turns out not to be so. With another layer of ice on the streets (seems to be a weekly occurrence, lately), a neighbor went out of control and hit it. (In case you're wondering, it was a Jeep with one of the steel cages on the front.) In that second picture, you can tell the road

Dragon Fruit Progress

Hi, I have been busily toiling on Christmas gifts and another project I can't post, yet, but I'm also spinning whenever I get a moment. I am part of the way through the fourth braid of Dragon Fruit (of eight, total), from Spunsilver Creations . I posted the roving back in this post in October . Here's a sneak peak at the single. Happy Knitting! Lisa Kay

Vest With Deep Rib -- Done!

Hi, I actually finished this vest a few weeks ago, and I just had not taken any photos. The light wasn't great after I got home, today, either, but I took some, anyway. The pattern is from Tahki Yarns , and it uses their own Doneghal Tweed "homespun." Happy Knitting! Lisa Kay

Mitchell Is Three

Hi, Mitchell turned three last week. Here is Mitchell, holding up his fingers and saying, "I'm Three." There were so many gifts from the grandparents and Mommy and Daddy that he was running back and forth starting to open one and then another. He would ask for help opening one, and then get distracted and run off. He liked his cake, actually, the frosting, but he wouldn't blow out the candles. He has an aversion to fire. We got him some more Play-Doh, including an "extruder" for making spaghetti and that sort of thing. It has several little templates. It also came with many cutters that would actually work really well for Christmas cookies. There's a great alligator cutter. Happy Knitting! Lisa Kay

Cozy Critter Cowl

Hi, I finished an alpaca cowl a few weeks ago, actually. Alpaca fiber is certainly warm and cozy! It is based on the Monkey sock pattern from CookieA. Using a circular needle (16 to 24”…16” is probably better, but I used 24”) or dpns, CO a multiple of 16 stitches. (I used long tail CO, but read the “Round 12” paragraph before deciding how to CO.) I used seven repeats (112 sts). The cowl is a bit on the drapey side. If you go to a larger gauge (or even in the same gauge, if you want the cowl a bit more snug), you might want to use six repeats (96 sts). Using Classic Elite Inca Alpaca, and a size 5 needle, I knitted to a gauge of 22 sts over four inches in stockinette. I don’t consider that critical, except in deciding to possibly reduce the number of pattern repeats to six. Place marker and join in the round. Knit 5 rounds. Round 6: *K2tog, YO*, repeat to end of round. Knit 5 rounds. Round 12: *K2tog, one from the left needle, one from the CO row*, repeat to end of round. This is a bi

Uther

Hi, I finished spinning using a "batt" for the first time, as opposed to combed top or roving. It spun up fluffier, as many resources mentioned it would. I ordered Uther from The Loopy Ewe , and it looked very gold and luxurious in the picture on-line. I was unable to capture an image that was as complimentary, and it seems to look a bit mustardy in my pictures. It is an interesting mix. It makes me want to card my own fibers. I asked my husband for carders for Christmas. Here are the strips, ready to spin. I pulled the batt into strips, lengthwise, and I ran them through a dizz (a piece of wood with a hole in it, sanded smooth so as not to snag). The dizz step was recommended in a forum on Ravelry, and it really did seem to make a difference in taming the strips. In the picture below, you can see the "un-dizzed" side on the right. I had two 3-oz packs, and it spun up to about 155 yards. It is dyed/carded by The Sanguine Gryphon . I have another of the colors, N

Happy Thanksgiving

Hi, We had all the grandparents and my brother and sister-in-law over for lunch. Yummy goodness! We have very much for which to be thankful. Here's our handsome little man... And a quick shot of us, outside. It was a relatively pretty day, for late November. Happy Knitting! Lisa Kay

Christmas Tree Frogs

Hi, We put up the Christmas tree on Saturday. We were up to midnight getting it done. Mitchell had a five hour nap in the afternoon, so we would have been up late, anyway. We're having Thanksgiving at our house, and I like to have the Christmas tree up for that. It just seems more festive that way. I have so many ornaments that I could decorate about four trees. Last year, I put up all the purple decorative ornaments. This year, I got out some of the collectable ones, mostly airplanes and frogs. Here are a few Christmas Tree Frog pictures. And the one on top, which is sort of star-shaped... Happy Knitting! Lisa Kay

Spruce Woods

Hi, I finished plying the Enchanted Knoll Farm "Spruce Woods." Here is another picture of the roving (posted long ago when purchased). Here is the roving, split into blue and brown sections. I spun them separately and then plied together. I had more blue than brown. To make the singles take half the roving, I took blue bits out of the blue pile until it was even. I split them into little pieces so that I could add them to the brown singles here and there. Here are the singles. Note the the brown singles have little blue spots. That is not such a bad thing... In fact, I really liked the singles, and I considered keeping them as two yarns, but I decided to stick with the original plan. I did a pretty good job of either separating the rovings in half, or spinning more or less evenly, or both. Or maybe beginner's luck? Here is all the "leftover" single I had after plying... not much! Here is the plied yarn on the bobbin. That is a full bobbin! This is half of the

Visit to Santa

Hi, As part of our regular Friday excursion, we were at the mall, and we ran into Santa. Mitchell wanted to see him, and he wanted to tell him what he wanted for Christmas, but he didn't want to get near him. This is as near as we managed to get, and he wasn't too happy about it. After we finally wrangled him up there, he wanted to know why Santa didn't give him his caimans . After all, he had gotten up there and been very clear about what he wanted. Where were the caimans? I guess I hadn't fully explained the request *for Christmas* concept. Hmmm. Happy Knitting, Lisa Kay

TV Ring

Hi, Here's Mitchell in his dinosaur pajamas, watching TV from "the Ring." The Ring is a toy Daddy had from when he was a kid. You can take it apart and re-assemble it in a slide shape, or a wave. Two pieces make a sort of rocker shape. It is usually set up as a ring in our living room, and Mitchell likes to sit in the middle. Happy Knitting, Lisa Kay

Weaver's Guild Show

Hi, Belatedly, I am posting my treasures from the annual St. Louis Weaver's Guild show in Brentwood, from Halloween. (Busy day.) Mitchell picked out this little hedgehog. He calls it a mole. It's name is Pi. Well, I suppose that Mitchell meant, "Pie," but you know how moms are... I also picked up these rovings from Carol Hagen of PennyRoyal Farm . She also happens to be my spinning instructor. The green one is "Tree Frog" (4 oz, x4) Wool, and the blue one is "Gypsy" (4 oz, x6), Wool and Silk. Neato! Happy Knitting! Lisa Kay

Wandering Wooly Worm

Hi, Anything wooly, at our house... Seriously, we found this wooly worm wandering in the street. I stopped the car to "rescue" it. We took it home and played with it for a while. Mitchell ran over it with his dump truck a couple of times before I could stop him, but the wooly worm seemed to keep right on ticking. We kept him (her?) overnight in a jar with some foliage, and then returned it to the wild the next day. It was still pretty active, so I don't think we did it any harm. It certainly seemed furry. Isn't that supposed to mean a cold winter? Or is it when the fur is black? Either way, I think we're in for it, this year... Happy Knitting, Lisa Kay

First Knitted Spinning

Hi, Here is the Rainbow yarn I spun, knitted into a hat. It is supposed to be for Mitchell, but I couldn't get him to try it on, not even for a picture... I guess he isn't quite as much of a ham as I thought! I used the "Shaker Hat" pattern from the book, "100 hats." I modified it to knit in the round. Happy Knitting, Lisa Kay