Month: March 2014

Knitting

All Feely and Stuff

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FEELINGS WHOA WHOA WHOA FEELINGS

I feel like such a green living, socially conscious yuppie, what with Mr. Iknead’s new, greener vehicle and our trip to the Good Earth Garden Center today, which seems to have gotten its hooks in us, making us want to visit and then buy all the things, from birdbaths to exotic (to us) plants we can’t even name to huge statues of Bigfoot, which I wish I’d snapped a picture of on this particular visit.  Good Earth has become our destination of choice lately, even on the coldest winter days, just so we could stroll through the hothouses and daydream about spring.  Who would have thunk it, us, people who a year or so ago ran the other way when yardwork was even mentioned?  Who knew we were closet green thumbs?  Not me, for sure.

I bought some succulents to go in the terrarium I plan to do today, a forsythia and something called a Lenten Rose, with lovely pinkish blooms.  I think the honeybee that was visiting its flowers put me up to buying it.  I tried to get a picture of the bee in the blooms, but no go.  I got a picture anyway.

 

Here’s a look at my newest terrarium:

By the way, I’ve become a fan of Snapguide for how-tos.  I really like its pared down and to the point instructions, and the way it tells me only what I need to know, without a lot of what I call “instruction clutter” – confusingly wordy or hard to understand directions.  Can you gather that patience is not something I have in abundance?

The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance, the wise grows it under his feet.  James Oppenheim

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Knitting

Spinning Sunday #2 3/30/14

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WOOLY STASH DIVE

I’m in the process of turning this raw, but washed, Rambouillet fleece into socks. This doesn’t happen overnight, unfortunately. It’s not hard to do, but it is time consuming and labor intensive to turn this –

.

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Washed Unspun

Into this:

Carded Fleece

Into this:

Dyed and Ready to Spin

Perhaps I was a little impatient overmotivated this week, washing and dyeing more fleece, which can’t be rushed.  I know this because I just completely felted a good amount of just dyed purple fleece.  Sigh.  I suppose wool can be recycled……

Dang.

I’ve heard that patience is a virtue.

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Knitting

Booklove and Birthday Girls

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BOOKLOVE

I finished The Girl Who Fell From the Sky and it was amazing! I couldn’t put it down. Two thumbs up!

TWO

Babydiva turned two today.  It seems I turned around and suddenly, she’s walking and talking a blue streak, always a jump ahead.

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Two Years Ago

This Time Last Year

The Birthday Girl Today

Can you tell that Babydiva loves Hello Kitty???  This time next year, she’ll be big sis to Charlotte Faith.  The hits just keep on comin’ as they say.

When I get older losing my hair / Many years from now / Will you still be sending me a Valentine / Birthday greetings, bottle of wine. / If I’d been out till quarter to three / Would you lock the door? / Will you still need me, will you still feed me? / When I’m sixty-four.  John Lennon and Sir Paul McCartney

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Knitting

FO Friday 3/28/14 or No K1P1 Rib for a While

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OFF THE NEEDLES

My Seafoam Shrug

in Hobby Lobby’s I Love This Cotton, Arctic Ice

There are no words for how over the moon I am with this shrug!  The fit is perfect, I took my photos after I washed it on my washer’s handwash cycle, then dried it low and slow in my dryer and hung it on a hanger.  I’m wearing this baby until it falls apart, and maybe then some.

I’m linking with Tami and KCCO, go take a look at more masterpieces!

It’s good to be just plain happy; it’s a little better to know that you’re happy; but to understand that you’re happy and to know why and how….and still be happy, be happy in the being and the knowing, well that is beyond happiness, that is bliss.  Henry Miller

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Knitting

Boho

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WHAT GOES AROUND…..

Wait a second!  How come no one bothered to tell my that my fashion sense has always been something called “Boho“, or that it’s very hip and one can drop megabucks on new stuff that looks just like the old stuff I wore all through high school and most of the stuff I wear now?  My son tells me I’m just an old hippie with an eyeroll when I thank him for the compliment.  Honestly, he says that like it’s a bad thing.  Whatever it is, I still love everything about Boho, even if I’m way past the belly and back baring stuff and am more into floaty and fringey nowadays.  And the jewelry!  And the bags!  And the Pinterest!

All that being said, I plan a fabric stash dive sometime today with the idea of making a patchwork bag.  I have several packs of fat quarters in colors I love, along with some decorator fabric someone passed on to me when their project was finished.  I plan to cut them into random squares/rectangles, then cut the pattern.  My sewing skills are, to put it politely, more than a little sketchy, but then, that’s the idea, it’s handmade, it’s BOHO, man.

PS

Look what I found in my closet!  I think this qualifies, don’t you??!!

Inspiration exists, but it has to find us working.  Pablo Picasso

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Knitting

WIP Wednesday 3/26/14, Booklove

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ON THE NEEDLES

1.  My Seafoam Shrug is now in the home stretch, down to the last bit of ruffle in ( you guessed it) k1p1 ribbing.  At least it calls for only 2 1/2 inches this time.  I’ll tell you, those two 60 row k1p1 sleeves just about did me in.  Hopefully, this project will be off the needles, washed and blocking by bedtime tonight.

So sorry, the Seafoam link eludes me at the moment.  I’ll keep looking and update when I find it.

 

2.  I’ve just barely started a Woodland Shawl from The Thrifty Knitter.  I stash dove last weekend and got reacquainted with some yarn that I’ve had for so long I haven’t a clue what it is.  All I can remember is that the color is called Papercut.  I’m going to do a bit of research, checking Ravelry to see if by some miracle I added it to my notebook.  Keep your fingers crossed.  OK, uncross your fingers.  No luck with Rav.  I do, however, remember it was a Etsy purchase, so that’s my next hope.  SCORE!!!!  I bought this yarn May 15, 2008 from knitfrontandback, out of Calgary, Canada and it’s laceweight merino.

WANNABE

I have the perfect yarn to knit the Maeva Socks from Knitty Winter 2011 with one big inconvenience.  The charts are so teeny tiny as to be useless for these old eyes.  This means a trip to the copy store to have them enlarged.  I tried printing them at 125% but that still isn’t really big enough.  >squint<

BOOKLOVE

This week I finished The Troop by Nick Cutter, a horror story.  Stephen King said it was one book that scared him, I see a lot of his influence in this particular book.  I won’t share any more as not to spoil it.  Check your local library.  Now, I’m listening to The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider; I love this book!  I came clean awhile back regarding my love for what they call Young Adult Fiction and this book hasn’t’ disappointed. If you enjoy YAF, give it a read.

I’m linking with Tami, Frontier Dreams KCCO and Ginny’s Yarn Along.

It’s not what you look at that matters.  It’s what you see.  Henry David Thoreau

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Knitting

Spinning Sunday #1 3/23/14

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I’ve decided to devote one blog post a week to another aspect
of fiberlove – spinning. Six months ago I became a spinner almost by accident when on a whim i made a drop spindle out of a dowel and a small wooden wheel like what would be on a small pull wagon or push toy.

My first attempts were …. interesting.  I kept practicing and got a little better but my slow pace using the drop spindle was frustrating.  It was easy to see that creating a pair of socks from roving to actual wearing was going to take months, if not years.  This dampened my enthusiasm a bit and planted the idea of someday owning a spinning wheel.  I did some window shopping on the Internet, feeding my imagination a little more.

Then, remarkably, I heard through the grapevine that someone who worked for the same facility I’d retired from had an Ashford Traveller wheel for sale, and get this: in my price range!  This clearly was meant to be, no doubt about it. So, almost before I knew it, I was sitting at my own wheel, surfing YouTube for spinning demos, trying to get a handle on basic spinning techniques.  Did I mention that before this I’d never even SEEN a spinning wheel?  Gotta love YouTube.  The rest, as they say, is history.  By the way, my wheel’s name is Violet and yeah, I’m one of those weird (I say eccentric) people that name things.  Meet Violet.

 

Always do more than is required of you.  George S. Patton

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Family · Knitting

Morning at the Zoo, Wondrous Yarnbox, Meet Forrester Gump

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ZOO FUN

Big and busy day today. Mr. Iknead and I spent the morning with all three grands and their moms at the zoo. I don’t know about the others but I’m totally beat. I bet we walked three miles today, easy! We had a blast and except for one tiny episode of COTTON CANDY COTTON CANDY IWANTCOTTONCANDY!!!! everyone’s sunny disposition stayed put. The four newest tiger cubs were a particular favorite. Babydiva developed a short term obsession with mole rats but was eventually distracted and we were able to carry on with our visit.

Babydiva and the Papoose – Cousins and BFFs

Patient Tiger Mommy

The Sprout’s Pushing ME Next Time!

Just Us Girls

Mr. Iknead and Babydaddy don’t have a chance.

And you know what?  They love it!  Mr. Iknead melts completely when he around the grands, it’s the sweetest thing – no request refused, no job too large or too small.  Pawpaw’s got this and is loving every blessed minute.  I married a marshmallow and it’s grand!

Babydivalicious

That Smile!!

YARNLOVE

Another wondrous box arrived while we were visiting the zoo and (be still my heart) this was inside:

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SIIDEGARTE

Silky Swiss Gorgeousness

“Siide-Flauschig”

50% Silk/50% Merino

Aichblatt

250m/273 yds

There were two, count ’em, two hanks of this in the wondrous Yarnbox; the sheen on this stuff is phenomenal, as you can see from the photo.  Now the hard part – picking a project because, as we all know, fabulous yarn calls for a fabulous pattern.  Shawl?  Shrug? Sweater? Who knows?  Most of the time, in my plane of existence, the yarn decides what it wants to be, then it’s my job to figure out what that is.  I’m thinking some type of wrap, maybe something with a hood?

RUN FORRESTER RUN!

Meet Forrester Gump, the newest member of the Iknead family.

 

20140321-152459.jpgMr. Iknead has been so patient, waiting until he found just want he wanted, from the sort of silvery green paint job, to the moonroof, to the automatic back hatch – just touch a button and it opens and closes *snap fingers* just like that.  I’m happy to see him so happy and excited.  He deserves this new ride, he’s been driving my dad’s car for the past couple of years, a good car, a Buick LaCrosse, nice, not too fancy, but really, not his style.  He’s more of an SUV kind of guy.  I don’t mind telling that I’m a million times blessed to have him as the love of my life.

It is better to travel, than to arrive.  Buddha

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Knitting

WARNING!!! Phat Fiber Spoiler Alert!

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WONDROUS BOX!!!

My Phat Fiber box arrived today full of amazing roving samples mixed with sweet sock yarn samples and a couple of the prettiest stitch markers I’ve ever seen.

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That little pouch on top? This is what it
held:

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A handmade soap and those stitch markers I told you about. I love these!

In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous. Aristotle

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Knitting

WIP Wednesday and Booklove 3/19/14

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ON THE NEEDLES

Seafoam shrug. At first I couldn’t quite figure out how this would work, thinking those 60 rows of  K1P1 ribbing were way little for a neckline. Silly me. I went back and studied the pattern and realized it was knit cuff to cuff. Duh. Yeah, it is a perfect sleeve. Makes perfect sense.

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BOOKLOVE

Two thumbs up for Calling Me Home by Julie Kibler, a story with two voices, one elderly, one not so elderly, one white, one black and their unexpected friendship to kinship over the years. It’s been a long time since a story brought me to tears. I love this book.

Linking with Tami and Frontier Dreams KCCO.

Linking with Ginny’s Yarn Along.

Every choice you make has an end result.  Zig Ziglar

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Knitting

Already? Terrarium Imaginarium

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WHAT GOES AROUND

The Phat Fiber sale has rolled around again; luckily, I checked my e-mail on an account I seldom use and saw the heads up e-mail they send a few days beforehand.  I’m excited to have scored a wondrous box again this month and so will be obsessed with checking and rechecking my mailbox looking for said wondrous box.  The theme this month is Inspiring Women, I wonder what this month’s goodies will be…..

A NEW FIXATION HOBBY

Terrariums!  I’ve fallen in love with them since seeing some at a garden show a few weeks ago.  I saw some lovely containers at Hobby Lobby yesterday that were perfect and the tiny plants!  OMG, the tiny plants are so cute!  I put a couple together today –

Darn glass glare!

I love the different shapes of both the containers and the plants, it’s easy for my imagination to run away with me!  I want at least one of every shape and size – containers and plants.  Save those pickle jars!  : )

Growth itself contains the germ of happiness.  Pearl Buck

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Knitting

Purple Surprise, FO Friday 3/14/14

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SURPRISE

Look what I found while taking sock pics!

Crocus!

About 18 (I kid you not) years ago I planted some bulbs that never bloomed or even came up, casualties of squirrels and a weimaraner puppy. They obviously missed one. This surprise surely means winter is exiting stage left to make room for spring.  Just seeing this purple makes me happy!

NEW SKILLS

For the past couple of posts I’ve been trying out blogging from my fancy new phone, which is doable but time consuming because of the teeny tiny screen, and Mr. Iknead’s iPad, which is much better as far as screen size.  I am, however, having to relearn how to do things that have become almost second nature,  like inserting pictures, adding links, etc.  As I have a very low frustration threshold, I have to work on the iPad, then change to the computer every so often to keep from pitching the whole thing out the window.  I plan to keep practicing.

OFF THE NEEDLES

Kew, from Knitty Fall 2006

Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock, Flame

Please disregard the ugly muddy background.  This is what you get when you start redoing your patio and get interrupted by about 4 inches of sleet.

ON THE NEEDLES

After finishing the Kew socks yesterday, I stalked some patterns on Ravelry and decided on a shrug with 3/4 sleeves, the purpose of the sleeves being to hide what I call toothbrush arms.  As in, when you stop brushing your teeth, but your upper arm doesn’t….  OK, back on track.  So, I found a pattern with all the required features and then found out I didn’t have enough yarn to start.  Oh, lots and lots of yarn, just not enough of any one for my new project.  A trip to Hobby Lobby fixed that and I cast on and got started this afternoon.  The yarn is I Love This Cotton in Arctic Blue.  The shrug pattern is here.

A word to the wise:  Never underestimate the tedium of 60 rounds of K1P1 ribbing.  I’m just sayin’…..

Linking with Tami’s FO Friday blog.

Take it easy — but take it.  Woody Guthrie

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