Back From A Pioneer Day

I'm going to make this post fast. There is a family issue happening and as much as I would love to sit here and play all day, I don't think I have the leisure.

First for the fiber enthusiasts: Pictures of my friend, Donna's, work. (Donna is Baby Anna's grandmother.)

Donna at her wheel.

Shetland waiting to be spun up.
Homespun: The grey skein is from the grey roving above.

This skein is plied from the green above with silk.Her favorite shawl.

Close up of the color change.Goregeous lacework that I want to say was her daughter-in-law's wedding shawl.

The artist modeling another shawl. Love these colors.Spindle, plied, and original roving.
Anna watching her mother make butter.
Anna with me.
FH carving a Celtic design onto a piece of leather that will become the sheath for my camp kitchen knife. If you biggify the picture, the knife in question if sitting on teh bench next to him. For the record, I made the knife, not him. The bag I made him is on the ground next tothe bench. He's using it for his larger leather tools.
That's all for now. I have to scramble to do some laundry and possibly pack. Not sure yet.

Picture Goodness

Here is the new knitting project. I'm about halfway finished with it. I completed the first repeat for the cabling last night. I'm set to start the decreases next.

This is the almost finished cross stitch for a friend's first baby. Of course I can't actually finish it until the baby is here and I know what date to put on it. The center chunk that is framed in green will be cut away so the whole piece acts as a photo mat.

My plans for today include blocking the wedding piece now that I have a frame and mat that I like, laundry, more stitching, and packing for the trip to the 'rents for Thanksgiving. I may or may not work on the cabled hat.

Funny thing about the hat... it's for a friend of ours. My husband saw me working on it and has said that if I don't use my second "safety ball" of the heather yarn, he would very much like one just like it. That was a hint if I ever heard one. I promised him that if there wasn't enough leftover that we would go visit a yarn shop and he could pick a new color if they are out of the heather. I'm such a good wife. ;-)

Froggy!!

So the new hat that I started while the sheep geek was here got frogged and restarted. I started out originally by trying to knit a Mobius strip. While I do find the mathematics of:

x(u,v)=(1+0.5vcos0.5u)cosu
y(u,v)=(1+0.5vcos0.5u)sinu
z(u,v)=0.5vsin0.5u

where 0 is less than or equal to u,
u and v approach each other in value,
and v is less than or equal to 1;

to be quite lovely, I do not want to knit one right now. Fortunately the mistake was caught early and the bit where I cast on too many stitches was also dealt with via a simple decrease.

However... I found yet another mistake in the first round after she had left. After a bit of pondering I decided I really should take advantage of the new cast-on method that was rattling around in my brain while it was still there. Really that is the only way I can actually remember a new technique. The added bonus of knowing there were no initial flaws was also quite compelling. So a froggin' I went.

With this new and improved cast-on I managed to not start a Mobius strip and actually got the correct number of stitches in place. Currently I'm on the 14th round and tackling the cabling. I will have a picture up sometime this week. I'm not saying who the hat is for though. I will say it's not for FH, but if he likes it I told him I would make him one.

Happy Fun Hat

Happy Fun Hat is finished. It is huge. I'm not sure if I did too many rows in the repeat section or just knit too loose or what. But it's big enough to keep my head warm in the cold winds up here and heavy enough to stay on my head when my hair is clean. I'm one of those people whose hats and hair ties will slide right off of when the hair is clean. It's too smooth to keep a grip on anything.

I started another hat today under the watchful eye of my friend. Heh. I'm so not allowed to knit without adult supervision. I counted the initial stitches 3 times. Each time was counted wrong but I didn't notice. I also skipped right over stitches and got the whole piece turned around the wrong way. So we'll see if it takes me another 4 years to make this hat.



One of my boys was sweet enough to model the hat for you to see. Just so you understand the size of this thing... he is a 12 pound cat.

Knitting update

The knitting that comes from my hands is improving markedly as the Sheep Geek is here on a visit. I will get the hat I started 4 years ago finished before she leaves. I call it the "Happy Fun Hat." It is not called that because the yarn is variegated rainbow colors. The name is a reference to "Happy Fun Ball" on Saturday Night Live. I will defeat the bedamned hat if it kills me.

One of my dear friends almost killed herself this weekend by rolling her van. She over corrected after she went onto the gravel shoulder when her cell phone rang and startled her. The van flipped into a culvert. She is alive with only a compound fracture of her right ankle to show for it. Her two great wheels were not so lucky. The Reeves can be repaired with a new flier and a replacement leg. The Elizabeth will rest in pieces. Needless to say she missed the baby shower on Saturday.

The Sheep Geek and I found a wonderful local yarn shop nearby. More money was spent than should have been. Also it is located right next door to an amazing jewelry and bead store. In fact as fate would have it, they share entrances. It is definitely a den of sin and temptation. I will be returning when I work through some more of my stash.