Knitting

FO Squared

September 6, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

OFF THE NEEDLES

Got a twofer today.

Botanical Cowl, using the Mini Mochi from Destin

I’m a Mini Mochi fan now, this turned out prettier than I’d ever imagined!

Woo Hoo!!! I finished the Ruffled Tank and even got Bigmommy to model. This is the yarn from Knit One Crochet Too. Again, it turned out even better than I’d expected. I think it’s the first sweater I’ve knit that actually fits!

So that does it for my souvenir yarn this year. I’ll be making a yarn run in the next few days. I haven’t visited Yarn Mart in a while and like I said, I’m a new fan of Mini Mochi and am anxious to get more. TGIP (Thank goodness it’s payday)!

I’m linking up with Tami’s FO Friday blog again, be sure and pay her a visit!

Laughter is the closest distance between two people. Victor Borge

Knitting

WIP Wednesday 9/4/13, Yarn Along and Spinning

September 4, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

ON THE NEEDLES

Today’s entry is the CEY Ruffled Tank, which lacks only the ruffles to be finished. Actually, I’m pretty proud of myself today. I sat down this morning and did the part of completing a project that I HATE – the mattress stitch. This is a real accomplishment for me as I can think of at least a couple of projects that are entirely finished – except for putting them together. I dislike it so much that I’ll put something that I put a lot of time and effort into on the back burner, never to be seen or worked on again. Maybe I should go unearth something and finish it while I’m still congratulating myself, on that cloud of optimism that comes with finishing a dreaded task. Nah. Tomorrow. Maybe.

CEY Ruffled Tank

in Knit One Crochet Too Kettle Dyed, in Seaside

SPIN OUT

I’m getting better at it, I can see it. My long anticipated roving arrived yesterday and after a period of oohs and aahs, I decided on the natural gray and white BFL to start and this is what resulted:

Is this beautiful or what?

Before spinning, mixed BFL

Nutmeg Merino

Copper – Colonial

This lovely fiber came from Fire and Fluff and you can bet I’ll be paying them another virtual visit soon.

BY THE BOOK

Here’s what I’m reading at the moment –

Orphan Train

Linking with Tami’s WIP Wednesday blog, Frontier Dreams KCCO and Ginny’s Yarn Along. Pay them a visit, they’re always a treat!

Positive thinking will let you do everything better than negative thinking will. Zig Ziglar

Knitting

August 29, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

LATE FOR WIPW BUT STILL ON THE NEEDLES

This is the front for the ruffled tank that’s still a WIP. I knitted the back and while congratulating myself, noticed that it looked a little “wonky”. It was then that I noticed the huge mistake I made. When a pattern states “work as for front” it means just what it says, start at the top of the pattern, not in the middle. So, I frogged the entire back and started it again, this time paying more attention. Sigh. That’s why it’s recommended that you read a pattern through multiple times BEFORE you start knitting. Another sigh.

Tank sweater back #2

Change in all things is sweet. Aristotle

Knitting

Try To Relax, Willya?

August 23, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

SPIN

A couple of things: spinning is work, especially if you’re a newbie. My treadle leg is tired today. It also seems to have a steep learning curve. I’ve been practicing and just this morning felt like I might be getting a handle on it, at least the treadling part. If my hands are going correctly, I forget to treadle. If my treadling is working, I forget about my hands. But I think I’m improving….maybe…..just a little. I’d taken a pic of my first (presentable) yarn – all one yard of it, but Flickr apparently is having a snit and won’t let me upload. I’ll try again later. What a brat.

OK, Flickr is back in my good graces.

THE GRANDS

We have tickets for tomorrow morning for a Kindersong performance and I personally am pretty jacked up about it. I think it will be right up Babydiva and the Papoose’s alley, with lots of audience participation and familiar songs. One of the coolest things is that Kindersongs is a husband and wife team, they’re local and before they launched Kindersongs, Mr. Kinder was a teacher and taught music to both Bigmommy and Babydaddy. I think it’s really neat that my kids have a link to them and now, their kids will have one too. Of course, any time we spend with the grands is precious and they’re just now getting to the age where they like to actually do things, and love to take part in anything musical and/or silly. I hope we can get some pics.

PHOTOSHOOT

Our shoot at the beach turned out to be fabulous. As soon as I can get a DVD burned, I’ll be posting some vacay pics. What a difference a pro photog makes! The weather cooperated (yay) and in a couple, everyone is actually looking in the same direction. Do you know how hard it is to get three babies to look at the same thing? One was always throwing sand, one was always eating sand and one simply got sick and tired of having her picture taken. Kudos to the photographer! Oh, I almost forgot, all our clothing matched, thanks to Bigmommy and Babymama. I was a little skeptical about that, but it really turned out well. I’ll start listening to their suggestions more, maybe.

SUMPIN’S GOTTA GIVE

I decided today to put a lot of my projects on the backburner and concentrate on just one or two things. Today, especially, I’ve felt a little overwhelmed; I want to work on everything but end up frustrated because I can’t seem to concentrate long enough to anything but screw up, much less finish something. Knitting and reading – still in the game. Everything else – in time out for at least a few days, until I can get my feet back under me. Pinterest will be the death of me, I swear.

There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other as if everything is. Albert Einstein

Knitting

Look What I Got, WIPW 08/21/13 and Snakewoman

August 21, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

I’M SO EXCITED AND I JUST CAN’T HIDE IT

OK, so I’ve been lusting after a spinning wheel, putting a little money back every now and then and doing a lot of window shopping online. Then, yesterday, I found out that a lady who worked where I used to work had a spinning wheel and was wanting to sell it. She and I e-mailed back and forth, she sent me some pics and now, as of 5:00 p.m., I have a wheel and not just any wheel, an Ashford Traveller! Here in the south, it’s considered bad manners to talk about money, much less bragging (that’s what I was taught, anyway), but without stating the amount, it was less than half of what I thought I’d have to pay for one. Isn’t she beautiful???

Pay no attention to the fact that I’ve never used a wheel before, hopefully, I’ll catch on pretty quick. Isn’t that what YouTube is for?

ON THE NEEDLES

I’ve been so excited about the new wheel, I almost let this WIP Wednesday get away from me, but here’s my WIPW offering this week –

Ruffle Tank, using the Knit One Crochet Too Kettle Tweed I named My Destin-E.

and last, but not least

BY THE BOOK

My current book in progress is Snakewoman of Little Egypt by Robert Hellenga and I’m loving it! Very quirky, just like I like it.

Snakewoman of Little Egypt

Here’s to learning new skills!

I almost forgot – I’m linking with Tami’s and Frontier Dreams today.

A little learning is a dangerous thing; drink deep or taste not the Pierian spring: there shallow draughts intoxicate the brain, and drinking largely sobers us again. Alexander Pope, An Essay on Criticism

Knitting

Souveniers

August 17, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

WHAT I BROUGHT BACK

Here are my official souveniers of my beach vacation. I’m a knitter, so can I help it if my idea a perfect souvenier is yarn, searching high and low for a LYS to visit, with extra points if it’s located on or near the beach?

First up is Knit One Crochet Too Kettle Tweed, 60% merino, 20% baby llama, 10% bamboo and 10% Donegal. There’s no color named, just a number, 4523, but since I think everything should have a name, I’m calling the colorway My Destin-Y. Very clever, especially since it came from a shop in Destin, Florida, named (surprise!) The Destin Yarn Shop. My project for this is c2knits Jackie, a topdown tank. Nice and summery, don’t you think?

Next is this lovely Crystal Palace Mini Mochi, which also has just a number, no real name. I’m calling this one Sea Glass because it makes me think of the small bits of glass sometimes found on the beach, beautifully frosted by waves and sand. No official project yet, but I’m leaning toward a cowl, specifically, Botanical.

Still happy to be home.

Life is the art of drawing without an eraser. John Gardner

Knitting

Home with Hermione, FO Friday

August 16, 2013August 16, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

OFF THE NEEDLES

Here’s Hermione’s Everyday Socks:

This pattern is a Rav freebie and I totally loved knitting these up; a four row repeat that was easy to memorize and was really awesome with the yarn, which was from Premier Yarns and was wool-free. The color is Vegas Lights and lent itself well to this pattern. Being on vacation for the past week, these socks had quite a bit of beach time. Got a few odd looks, you’d think people had never seen knitting on the beach! 🙂

SCENES FROM VACATION

BABYDIVA AND BABYDADDY ON THE BEACH.

THE SPROUT LOVES THE BEACH!

Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which one to keep, Scott Adams

Knitting

Beach 2013

August 13, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

I NEEDED AN OUTLET

Mr. Iknead and I took advantage of the cool, rainy morning to check out a yarn store in Destin. Actually, it was me that wanted to check out the yarn store, Mr. Iknead was kind enough to drive – the traffic around Destin is hideous at any time and the yarn store didn’t pan out, so we went to the outlets instead. I bought a nice pair of thong sandals at the Columbia outlet (shoe whore that I am) and a great new purse at Fossil.

LIFE’S A BEACH

What We See

THE LITTLEST GRAND

Sweet Sprout

No man is a failure who is enjoying life. William Feather

Knitting

Sun and Sand

August 11, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

ARE WE THERE YET?

Yes Yes Yes. We’re here, near and dear. Molly, Julia and Jason, we miss you. We’ll soak up a little extra sun on your behalf.

ON THE NEEDLES

Almost finished with the last Hermione sock and am ready to start another project. Babymama and I are going to make a yarn run before we head home to Arkansas. According to Google – we’re smack in the middle of two yarn shops, one in Destin and one in DeFuniak Springs. Like I said, a yarn run is required. Don’t wait up!!

JOY!!!!

This says it all!

This is a wonderful day, I have never seen this one before, Maya Angelou

Knitting

Up and Running Once More

August 1, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

A BUMP IN MY BLOG

We lost our internet Tuesday evening and all day yesterday. Very frustrating. I’m way more invested in the internet than I thought. No e-mail, no google, no blog, no nothin’. I see if I ever decide to go ‘net free, I’ll need to be weaned off, no way I’m going cold turkey! It comforts me to know, though, that I’m in the same boat with probably a zillion others. 😉 Oh, I almost forget to tell you the reason. Our neighbor was having fax issues, ATT came out, fixed his fax feed and didn’t bother reconnecting what he had to disconnect. Jeez.

SOFT STUFF

The alpaca roving that I ordered from Dyeing for Color finally arrived and has exceeded all my expectations. It’s like spinning a cloud. I’ve knitted with alpaca yarn but have never actually seen and been able to fondle roving. I keep petting it.

These babies are staying in their bags until two seconds before I spin so I can continue to marvel at how soft and clean they are! I’m beginning to feel that their destiny is to be sock yarn.

ON THE NEEDLES

No knitting to post today. Oh yeah, it’s out there, lots of WIPs, very few FOs, just not quite camera ready and besides that, I’d have to go through the house, gathering up each room’s project. Yeah, I work on different projects in different rooms. Don’t judge me 🙂

POT PROJECT

When we had that little snafu with the internet, I was in the middle of posting a pottery WIP so I had to postpone until today. This is a molded bowl and I can’t wait to get it out of the damp box and get it out of the bowl mold.

It still needs some work, as you can tell. That may be a good project for tomorrow.

Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning. Gloria Steinem

Knitting

What Happened to My Mojo?

July 28, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

29 AND COUNTING

I can’t believe that my baby boy, Babydaddy, is 29 years old today. I can’t believe I’m old enough for my youngest to be 29. But I am and he is and life is good. Happy birthday, son, I love you!

BY THE BOOK

I spent the afternoon getting reacquainted with some old friends. I listened to S.E. Hinton‘s book, The Outsiders. I loved it in high school and discovered I still love it. It’s a little dated, with rumbles, the Greasers and the Soshes, but heck, it was dated back when I read it the first time, (ahem), back around 1974 or 1975. Could I also be just a tiny bit dated?

FRUSTRATION IS NOT SOMETHING I DO WELL

Spent way too much time this morning trying to add some widgets to my blog. I’m estimating it was at least an hour and a half of doing exactly the same thing over and over, with absolutely the same result over and over. How hard could this be? I followed directions and then some. I just don’t get it. I finally gave it up as a bad job and moved onto something else, something with a low potential for computer dropkicking. Sewing.

After the abovementioned tearing of hair, I spent hours trying to get four pattern pieces to resemble something at least close to a pair of pants. I ripped them out at least three times, but you know what? I learned something every time. Today, the legs, tomorrow the waistband.

After putting the sewing away, I returned to the continuing battle of entrelac knitting. Again, I don’t know what I’m doing wrong, I’ve done entrelac patterns before without a problem, but not this time. This project is in time out, maybe forever, maybe just until later this evening, but in time out all the same.

So, there you go. Three projects, three fails; what happened to “third time’s a charm”? Guess it didn’t get the memo. Tomorrow is another day.

The Coveted Buttons

I have not failed, I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work. Thomas A. Edison

Knitting

WIPW 7/24/13

July 24, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

ON THE NEEDLES

A couple of things at the moment. First up is Hermione’s Everyday Socks for me. Still really liking the Premier Yarns Wool Free yarn. This colorway is called Vegas Lights. Just a few more rows and it will be heel turn time.

Next, the promised entrelac has been started. This yarn is Lion Brand Fisherman Wool, the original color was sort an oatmeal heather. It’s been dyed with Kool-aid, a combination of Ice Blue Raspberry Lemonade and Cherry.

The color did something interesting. The oatmeal/beigey color is a grayish, light taupe now. Much, much better. Really, it reminds me of the Shibui Poodle Skirt yarn I used for a pair of socks a couple of months ago.

IHEARTPOTTERY

After a few hiccups with glazing, this plate finally came out of the kiln and was better than I had hoped. The glaze is Rhodes Turquoise for the bottom 2/3 and Green Gloss for the top 1/3. I’m really happy with the combination of glazes in the middle. I’ve had a hard time with the glazing, it’s really not my favorite thing and I tend to rush through without much thought and consequently, the glaze really isn’t as uniform as I’d like it to be. There are missed spots and drips. A little more attention to detail would go a long way in the difference between a good glaze and a great one. My mantra from here on out is, “take your time, where’s the fire?”

Windchime experiment also went well, aside from glazing hiccups. They chime better than I thought they would but it’s definitely different from a glass, metal or wood chime. The spur of the moment ivy stamp makes me very happy. I love the rustic look of this!