Knitting

13 and Dysmotivation*

November 8, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

OFF THE NEEDLES

Le Miz is (finally) finished and felted, in spite of a couple of “time-outs” for operator error. This was the first project that I felted by hand and I was pleasantly surprised at how simple it is. Lazy me, I’ve always let my washing machine do the work. I’m apologizing in advance for the cruddy pictures, but it’s cold this morning and I’m still in my jammies, giving our back of the yard neighbors yet another reason to call me Crazy Yarn Lady.

A Better Look at the Stitch Pattern

GO AHEAD, MOTIVATE ME, I DARE YA

Right now, I’m having a really, really hard time getting back into my program of walking and watching my weight. I’m not going to share my poundage, suffice it to say that it is totally unacceptable to me and should jumpstart my walking and mindful eating program – but it hasn’t (at least so far). Going to shop treadmills today, I think. I’m hoping that will help. What gets you in the exercise zone?

Linking with Tami and Frontier Dreams today.

Trouble is only opportunity in work clothes. Henry J. Kaiser

*Dysmotivation – The attitude of not wantin’ to do nuthin’.

Knitting

WIP Wednesday 11/6/13

November 6, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

ON THE NEEDLES

Ridged Lace Cowl, created by Elinor Brown

Mochi Plus Cherries Jubilee

Hitchhiker 1

Meadow from The Fibre Company in Aster

Hitchhiker 2

Starry Sock Weight with Sparkle from Dream In Color Yarn

Amethyst Ink

Linking today with Tami and Frontier Dreams.

What really knocks me out is a book that, when you’re all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. That doesn’t happen much, though. J. D. Salinger

Knitting

Presto Chango, FO Friday and Divaliciousness

October 25, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

OFF THE NEEDLES

Here’s Babymama modeling the (reversible) Hilton Field Cowl and doesn’t she wear it well?

and flipped

I think it turned out rather well, it being my first colorwork project.

ON THE NEEDLES

My Le Miz wrap is currently in time out, mostly because of unnoticed dropped stitches, leading to an incorrect number of stitches, which were finally noticed by yours truly when she decided, just for giggles, to do a quick stitch count. FYI, if you’re going to do a project that incorporates purposely dropped stitches into the pattern, you must be extremely vigilant in counting stitches, since a huge mistake has the ability to look like a perfectly knit pattern row. Dang. Life goes on. Sigh.

THE GRANDS

In the solo spotlight today is Babydiva, who is already talking a blue streak at the tender age of 20 months and definitely knows her own mind, thank you very much.

Workin’ those baby blues!

I’m linking today with Tami’s blog and Frontier Dreams. Check them out for the best inspiration around.

Good fortune is what happens when opportunity meets with planning. Thomas Edison

Knitting

Lost and Found

October 23, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

FOUND!

Remember the set of Knitpicks cables I lost a few weeks ago? They’re found now – right where I left them, in a interchangeable pocket thing I had whipped up on the sewing machine and was “test driving”. Oh, of course, they were found a day AFTER the new cables I had given up and ordered arrived, but that’s about par for the course, I think. Glad to have them back, no matter what!

SPIN CYCLE

Since my last post, this:

has transformed into this:

I’m thinking shawlette, maybe Hitchhiker, but haven’t made a final decision. Suggestions welcome.

In every man’s heart there is a secret nerve that answers to the vibrations of beauty. Christopher Darlington Morley

Knitting

WIP Wednesday 10/09/13

October 9, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

ON THE NEEDLES

Christmas knitting is going like gangbusters. One more evening of knitting on this particular project should wrap it up.

Les Miz scarf/shawl is moving right along, although when I took it outdoors for a picture I noticed that somehow one of the needles has pulled out, so that will be today’s Les Miz knitting.

Yesterday was a day of galloping startitis, so I caved and started Hilton Field Cowl, designed by Kate Gagnon Osborn, in a book called November Knits . I’m using Cascade 220 that I found in the sale bin at Yarn Mart, in the colors I love. Does it get any better than sale yarn in favorite colors? I don’t think so.

ON THE BOBBIN

This

is in the process of becoming

this

Merino from Diamond B Sheep in Greenwood, Arkansas

Linking up with Tami’s WIPW blog and Frontier Dreams. Visit them for inspiration overload.

Bite off more than you can chew, then chew it. Ella Williams

Knitting

Phestival Phun, Phorget The Photos, If I Were a Knitpicks Cable

October 6, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

WHAT I DID AND WHAT I DIDN’T DO

Remember all the photos I promised of the Fiber Festival? Didn’t.Take.One. As a matter of fact, my camera didn’t even make it to the festival. That’s right, after being obsessive about making sure I had the camera, it never even made it to the festivities. I remembered it about the time we pulled into the parking lot. I suppose I could have pressed Mr. Iknead into going back and getting it, but the festival and the camera were about 20 miles apart and I just didn’t have the heart to ask him to go back and get on that cold and rainy morning. But……..

MY PHESTIVAL TAKE AWAY

Prepare to be awed:

This, my friends, is a bag of beautiful baby alpaca. It feels like buttah.

It’s from Whirlwind Ranch in Lebanon, Missouri and cries out to be fondled.

Here we have “Raspberry Ice”, domestic wool top from

Diamond B Sheep Farm of Greenwood Arkansas

More from the Diamond B – 100% merino, just waiting to become someone’s favorite socks.

More Diamond B merino, which hasn’t decided yet what it should be, given the amazing possibilities.

A wool, Angelina, silk noil and faux cashmere batt from you know where.

Can you see the little sparklies? I learned that those are called Angelina.

A wool, Tussah silk and bamboo batt, from my favorite Arkansas sheep farm.

All this fiber and I stayed within my budget (give or take about five bucks). This should keep Violet and me spinning for a while!

IF I WERE A KNITPICKS INTERCHANGEABLE CABLE

Where would I be? All I know is that all my lovely interchangeable cables are missing and I’ve pretty much exhausted all possible hiding places. I’ve looked in every bag, basket and drawer in the knitting room, I’ve called my housekeeper, I’ve called Bigmommy and even enlisted St. Anthony. No cables. They may have been abducted by aliens, since I’ve ruled out someone breaking into my house, sneaking into the knitting room and taking off with a ziplock bag of cables. Sigh. They’re sure to turn up now, since I ordered a new set last night. Sigh.

Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced. James Baldwin

Knitting

Frog Pond/WIP Wednesday 10/02/13

October 2, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

ON THE NEEDLES

If this Le Miz shawl looks smaller than last week, it’s because it is. I found an awful, unfixable, un-live-withable mistake way, way back nearly at the beginning. This shawl is 712 rows long and I was probably on row 400 or so. No way I was going to tink it back. Ever. Timewise, it made more sense to just bite the bullet and start the whole thing over. So I did.

Linking with Tami’s WIP Wednesday and Frontier Dreams today.

If you cannot be silent be brilliant and thoughtful. Byron Pulsifer

Knitting

Junior High Rewind

September 15, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

JITTERS? AT MY AGE?

The first day of my new pottery class is tomorrow. My Monday schedule is turning upside down -class starts at 12:30 and runs to 3:30 instead of 9 to 12. I have to keep reminding myself of the time change. This semester it’s Introduction to Throwing and Independent Study. I’m very excited but why do I feel like is the first day in junior high? For the last two semesters, my classmates and I have been a group of five, comfortable and acquainted now, asking about kids, colleges and vacations. We have a history. Who will I talk to? Who will I sit with? Nice to know that some things never change. I guess.

ON THE NEEDLES

As for the continuing saga of the Blue Day Socks, I’m happy I frogged them and restarted with a different yarn. It’s going much more smoothly and I’m so much happier with the result. See?

THE GRANDS

A week from tomorrow, our babiest of grandbabies, the Sprout, will turn one. She’s number three in the line up and Mr. Iknead and I should probably be getting a handle on this grandparent thing, but you know what? It never gets old, never gets routine and her firsts are exactly that for us, firsts. She made her debut in this post. Time doesn’t fly anymore – it’s jet propelled, rocket boosted and don’t blink, you’ll miss it. She’s very enthusiastic and I can’t wait to see her with a cake ALL her own!

You learn to speak by speaking, to study by studying, to run by running, to work by working; in just the same way, you learn to love by loving. Anatole France

Knitting

Snakebit?

September 14, 2013September 14, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

AM I?

Last weekend, I was shopping my favorite part of my LYS – the bargain bin – and picked up seven balls of some great CEY Portland Tweed. I blogged about it here. I decided to try to reproduce a favorite sweater and started calcs last night. Once again, not enough yarn and I’d bought up all Cindy had. Again, no prob, there’s always the internet, right? Again, wrong wrong wrong. None, zilch, nada available anywhere, great yarn, just discontinued and now extinct. That’s twice in a week that I’ve come up short on yarn for projects. Sounds snakebit to me. Dang.

Man invented language to satisfy his deep need to complain. Lily Tomlin

Knitting

FO Friday 09/13/13, Face The Facts Friday, Whaaaaa…..

September 13, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

I’m again hooking up with Tami’s FO Friday blog and Frontier Dreams KCCO.

FACT FACING

If you’ve been sort of keeping up with my sock project the last week or so, you’ll know I started a pair of Blue Day socks last week, knowing full well that I didn’t have enough yarn to complete them. Even with my little feet, I just couldn’t shake that feeling that I was going to come up short. No problem, I can always get more yarn. Wrong, wrong, wrong. I started these using Fiesta Yarns Baby Boom, in the color Sweet Pea. Yeah, I saw that I’d paid a LOT for this one skein, especially when you’re talking just one sock of a pair, but still, sacrifices can be made. The ONLY skein I found after hours of internet searching was $47.00!!! As much as this Sweet Pea stuff floats my boat, $47.00 for a sock??? Not even in loonyhoot’s world can that be justified. So, I gritted my teeth and completely frogged Blue Day and plan to use – thanks to better judgement and a deeper stash dive – some great sock yarn I remember buying on Etsy. I even remember the color name – Civil Disobedience and, I have a lot of it. Plenty for Blue Day and maybe then some. No decision on different sock pattern, but it’ll happen.

OFF THE NEEDLES

I finished the Diagnonal Lace Cowl from Classic Elite Yarns, just in time for today’s post. It took just under one ball of Mini Mochi, color number 113 (no name, just number). I probably could have squeezed a few more rounds in, but being paranoid because of the abovementioned sock thing, I decided to give myself a little wiggle room. My fingernails thanked me.

I think its official name is Lacy Rib Cowl.

HEAD SPINS

Here’s what I learned today spinning: cotton spins up differently than wool. Duh. It felt completely different, it took a different “hand” I suppose you’d call it and seemed to be a little more nubby; that could have been, really, that I’m a newbie spinner and nothing I’ve spun up yet is what you’d call smooth. It’s getting better, but smooth? Nope. Luckily, the person I bought my wheel from threw in a couple of bags of raw fiber – one of wool and one of cotton, giving me a lot of chances to practice and try out different things. I’ve spun my way though them both, glad that she was generous enough to include them. I see a serious roving/fleece stash building – especially after the festival in Greenwood in October.

Spun cotton

Spinning wheel Violet and I are becoming better acquainted all the time, I’m learning her quirks and she, mine.

IN THE OVEN

It’s a few degrees cooler this morning and I’m revved up and ready to do some baking, hopefully Cinnamon and Sugar Pull Apart Bread and/or Snickerdoodle Bread. Unhappily, I can’t seem to be able to buy cinnamon chips here in LR. I found a package once, at the Stuttgart Wal-Mart. I suppose I could order a couple of packs online and the recipe I have includes a recipe for the chips, but I think the store bought ones are better (for once).

MAMA

She continues her decline with her dementia. I miss her and would love to occasionally be met with a smile and an I’m happy to see you instead of the now normal vacant stare. I do know that this is the disease and all that, but a little bit of responsiveness can keep me going for quite a while. There are some days I terribly dread visiting and I wonder how long – for her and for me. What do I pray for??

Sorry for the Debbie Downer….

For success, attitude is equally as important as ability. Harry F. Banks

Knitting

WIP Wednesday 9/11/13

September 11, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

ON THE NEEDLES

Freebie Lacy Rib Cowl, CEY

Mini Mochi, color #113

and

Moonfire Handknits Blue Day Socks

Fiesta Baby Boom Sweet Pea (which I’m a little nervous about because my calcs come out about 20 yards too short); thinking positive thinking positive thinking positive.

BY THE BOOK

I finished Orphan Train yesterday, a little disappointed with the ending, but a great read overall and am planning to start Stephen Gallagher‘s The Bedlam Detective today, with a couple of others that are waiting in the wings, Life of Pi and The Devil in Pew Number Seven. I’m trying to be patient, I’m at my 10 book checkout limit and so must wait until the next two books expire. Yet another instance of Mr. Iknead’s austerity plan, which, I have to admit, is good practice for me. I don’t consider myself really impatient, more, umm, excitable would be a good word.

The Bedlam Detective: A Novel

Linking with Tami, Frontier Dreams KCCO and Yarn Along today.

Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body. Joseph Addison

Knitting

Is It Fall Yet?

September 10, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

TAKING A SPIN

My first attempt at plying – I think I need to watch some more YouTube tutorials

Nutmeg and Copper

STASH ADDITION

I’m condition SABLE (stash acquisition beyond life expectancy) and I know it, but I just couldn’t pass up this Portland Tweed that was on sale at Yarn Mart Saturday. i’m thinking funnel neck sweater – if 870 yards would do it and it might, it just might. If not a sweater, then maybe a shawl.

I just noticed that perhaps I’m thinking in fall mode now, with my newest stuff definitely being autumney, making me think of pumpkins and falling leaves.

Classic Elite Yarn Portland Tweed, color number 5012, 50 g/approx 120 yds, x7, 50% virgin wool, 25% alpaca and 25% viscose

SOMETHING NEW FOR JOSIE

I made Josie a new bed yesterday afternoon, I decided the old, zipper broke sleeping bag was just too ratty and found this pattern in a library book called One Yard Wonders by Rebecca Yaker and Patricia Hoskins. Turned out well and she seems to like it.