Knitting, Sci-fi and other stuff...

    The fair was a success.  My items did well and Liara got some ribbons as well.  We went to the parade on Tuesday, then down to the grounds once it was over.  We stopped by one local vender to grab some jewelry, grabbed some donuts from the Donut Diner then went to see how we placed.  Liara entered earrings that she hand-made with clay.  They did not place.  She entered a beaded bracelet that got first. She also entered three of her drawings.  A Pegasus, a bunny and a magical worm.  The bunny and the worm received third and the Pegasus received second.   The bunny is my personal favorite of all the drawings she's done.  There is always a really good turn out in the drawing and photography categories, so she was up against some stiff competition.  I'm really happy she received some ribbons. My items are as follows: Rotini Beanie; First Enchantress MKAL; First. Sunburst Potholder; Second.  Cow and Hen Dishcloth set; ...

     I finished my Hollyhock Mittens .  I wove in the ends and got them washed and blocked. This was a fun, easily memorized pattern and bonus, it was free.  I'd be more than willing to do this one again.  I used Malabrigo Rios in the Sunset colorway. Pre-Blocking Next up, I want to do a hat.  I've had Rotini Beanie on my radar for some time.  It'll look amazing in a more variegated skein of Mal Rios English Rose. I used some more Rhubarb from my garden.  I found a nice easy muffin recipe.  They were delicious and my coworkers really liked them.  Both my children liked the muffins as well and I promised my son we'd make another batch.  (He was a little disappointed that I took all but one to work.)  I'm going to double the recipe next time we do it, which will hopefully be soon. That's about it for me.  Work has already been absolutely nuts this week and its only Tuesday.  I would have posted this yesterday but...

    I got sidetracked last weekend and never got around to posting.  I finished  Get a Shift On! , finished weaving in the ends, washed it and blocked it.  I've even worn it twice already.  I was worried right at first it would be narrow but it came out a really good scarf size in the end. Its been really rainy here so I had to take the "glamor" shots under fluorescent light, but oh well.  This was a fun pattern and I still have left overs.  I'll probably be making another one at some point with a little different color scheme.     I worked on this exclusively once I started it.  So once I finished it I went back to  Killer Queen Cowl  and I've made some good progress on it.  I've done a little more than what's pictured.  I'm into the decreases now. I n other news, I met up with some former co-workers last weekend for dinner and wound up with a commission.  My very knitworthy friend Jim asked me if I would k...

I tried to get a better picture of my DRK Everyday Cowl, but yesterday was a blustery, cold but very sunny day.  Despite the look on my face I do really enjoy the cowl. I made some more progress on my Killer Queen.  I stayed up a little too late working on it last night.  I feel like it's going a little faster than my first one, even though I keep making minor errors.  I have to pay very close attention to each row instruction or else I get off by a stitch.  I find the wording in some places to be counter intuitive, at least for me. My swap package arrived yesterday.  I received an absolutely wonderful package.  It also included Original Peaches and Creme yarn, back from when it was produced by the Elmore Pisgah mill in the US.   I plan to start using the project bag immediately.  The next Mal March project I'm going to start is a stash buster.  I'll be using some Sock leftovers from Find Your Fade and a full skein of Eggplant to ma...

     Happy New Year!  I've been under the weather, but I'm starting to feel better now.       The yarn I ordered from the Miss Babs sale arrived last Saturday.     Then the yarn I ordered while I was in Syracuse arrived during the week. As well as my swap package from the Hot Beverage swap: I hid all the goodies so my kids couldn't eat everything while I was sick.  My appetite still hasn't returned so everything remains hidden.   I also got some more Malabrigo Mechita in a destash and that arrived as well.  I didn't do any knitting while I was sick but I finally felt good enough to do a little knitting last evening.  I was able to finish my son's socks. He was very excited for them to be done. I wove in the ends but didn't trim them yet. I'd like to give these a quick bath before I call them 100% done.  My son already put the socks in his sock ...

     In anticipation of the Boo Knits MKAL starting on October 1st I got out my Dye For Yarn so I could wind it with my new yarn winder.  I quickly found that the winder I chose is a piece of crap.  The yarn guide doesn't stay in place and drops while winding which feeds the yarn directly into the open gears.  The spindle base also isn't large enough to accommodate 100 gram skeins.  It is nice and quiet and it didn't roll backward when I had to stop often because the yarn wasn't cooperating with me either.  The hank was extra twisted and crinkly in one spot so it kept getting stuck on itself and needed to be teased apart.  Overall it was a very negative winding experience.  I just went back to Amazon to read the reviews on the winder to see if it was just my winder.  Nope, each review said the same thing.  I'm not sure why I didn't think to read the reviews before I ordered this one, I usually do.  I have a different winde...

      I finished Liara's hat.  I even washed and blocked it.  The dark blue bled a good bit, but it doesn't look like it re-deposited onto the lighter blue.  I looked through my little stash of swap notes and small items and I couldn't find the note from that Dr. Who swap so I have just my memory to go on for these two skeins of yarn.  I'm not overly concerned but it would be nice to know what the yarn is; it was nice to work with.  Liara is happy with how the hat turned out.  I made it a little longer than mine so she can fold up more of the brim.  I also rounded the top just a little. I immediately started Ronon's hat.  He chose two Malabrigo Sock colors.  He says his favorite color is green when I usually ask, and he had a green picked out; but as soon as I showed him the orange, he very empathetically demanded that his hat be made of that yarn.  I've finished the Terracotta side and am working on the Camaleon side now....

    This has been the week of everything breaking.  On Wednesday, when we were taking Ronon to Pre-K, the dash on the Highlander lit up like a Christmas tree.  We immediately assumed mice had gotten into the engine compartment again.  My husband investigated but he saw no evidence of mice, so that's probably a good thing.  We suspect that it's a sensor.  It has to be inspected this month anyway, so it goes to the garage on Monday to be diagnosed.  I finished the hat I was working on; more on that momentarily.  Liara asked me to make her a hat too.  It took her a bit to choose the yarns she wanted.  When I set up my winder to get them caked up, the itty bitty gear inside broke right off.  I bought the winder when I started knitting 14 years ago and it was a cheap one from Amazon.  So, I would say I got my 6 or 7 dollars out of it.  I've ordered another cheapo off of Amazon to replace it.  I hand wound the two skei...

    I wove in alllll the ends, washed and blocked my Killer Queen-Drops of Spring mash up mitts.         There was a bunch of stockinette hat talk in the Malabrigo Junkies group.  A bunch of people are knitting  YAS Hat s.  I liked the idea of a reversible hat so I jumped in with  Double Thick Hat .  Both of these patterns are free.  I thought a fingering weight hat would take awhile, but it's been rather addicting.  I'm already halfway done with the decreases on the first "side" of the hat. Malabrigo Sock in Dewberry The other half of this is going to be Solis.  If there's enough left I may make a YAS hat out of the remainder for my daughter.       That's it on the crafting front.  I've been plugging away slowly at my class.  The normal schedule is so much more subdued.  This communication class is going to push me very far out of my comfort zone, which I'm not too keen on, but...

    Not too much excitement here other than knitting for Malabrigo March.  The weather has been pretty dismal.  It's back in the 30s and snowing this week.  We're supposed to get a couple inches over night tonight... so I haven't been taking pictures of my progress very well.  I just took a few in overcast dismal light, but they're better than terrible lamp light when its completely dark outside, so here's what I've got so far:  I finished the Mandy Cowl a bit ago.  This still isn't blocked because of the whole yarn bleeding suspicion.  I want to pick up some color catchers first.  Realistically, it doesn't even need blocking, so I may just stream it and make the bleeding thing a future me problem.  I've tried it on too.  Its soft and squishy and the right length to sit inside my jacket and keep my neck warm. I'm happy with the way it turned out.  I did one extra lace repeat to use up as much yarn as possible. After this w...

     I've been sick for the past two weeks.  I still have a lingering cough, which is probably bronchitis, but I'm slowly feeling better.  Malabrigo March is in full swing.  I've completed two projects already and have another on the needles currently. I started with  Hum Beanie  on Noventa in the Indonesia colorway. I really enjoyed working with the Noventa; this was my first experience with it.  It has a little bit of twist, so it's not splitty.  I love this colorway, so bright even with the cool tones. Next up was  Mandy Cowl , which is a free pattern.  I used Silky Merino in the Caribeno colorway for this one.  It was my first time using this base as well.  It's a single and the silk makes it extra drapey.  I did 7 repeats of the lace pattern and I omitted the garter ridge down the center of the cowl.  I have finished the knitting on this but haven't taken an updated picture yet. I got this skein back in...

     I finished the  Handpaint Highlights Socks I was working on for Liara.  They're for her birthday which is on the 27th. I still want to wash and block them.  I've been looking at different types of heels.  When I do the shortie socks for myself, I may try a short row heel.  I've only ever done heel flaps and gussets, so I want to branch out a little bit.     Today I went through all my Malabrigo yarn and separated it from my normal stash.  It was nice to see it all together in one place.  I even found a whole skein of Rios I forgot I had, so I may have one more whole project to start for Malabrigo March.   The top picture is all my full untouched skeins.  The bottom picture is left overs and wound yarn.  I also cleaned out a few project bags along with needles.  I wound up a few skeins to get them ready for cast on March 1st.  The Silky Merino had gotten all messed up, so it took me an hour o...

     I started a pair of socks for myself.  I'm not good about checking gauge for anything.  So very quickly I realized the sock was looking very small.  I decided to keep going and make them for Liara instead.  I had her try it on after I turned the heel and it fit her perfectly.   I finished the first sock already.  The yarn is ONline Supersocke 100.  (This yarn and several other skeins were given to me by my Aunt Linda a few years before she passed away.)  I'm using a pattern from one of my physical pattern books.  One of my goals last year was to use more of my books.  I started out strong then tapered off through the year.  So I'm renewing that goal for this year.  It's the Handpaint Highlight Socks by Leah Oakley from the One Skein Wonders book.  I'm going to needle up a bit and still make a pair for myself.  I'm going to make them shortie socks though.  I think I'll have enough yarn for...