Its all true, the boogie girl is real, and you've found her. She knits, sews, spins, does pottery and writes it all down in this blog.
Thursday, March 08, 2007
I'VE MOVED
I've received a few emails lately and people can't find me so I'm posting here for anyone that hasn't changed their reader(bloglines) yet, I've moved.
Come visit me at http://www.spunkyeclectic.com/wp/
And don't forget to change your reader too.
I'VE MOVED
I've received a few emails lately and people can't find me so I'm posting here for anyone that hasn't changed their reader(bloglines) yet, I've moved.
Come visit me at http://www.spunkyeclectic.com/wp/
And don't forget to change your reader too.
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Saturday, February 03, 2007
I always find myself looking to the skies...and looking onward.
The new blog is up and running.
I'm still learning tons about php and making the necessary changes.
If it looks drastically different in a day or even in the next 5 minutes, don't worry, I'm just having a bout of indecision.
I wanted to make this post and give a warning, I need to do some major maneuvering to get the archives over at their new home. I might lose them all in the process or do something to kill the blogspot blog. I know it's unlikely but you never know with me.
So change update your bloglines with http://www.spunkyeclectic.com/wp
If you're a livejournal reader then I've syndicated the new blog there at Boogie Knitting Remember with LJ that if you comment there, I can't read your comments.
Friday, February 02, 2007
New Spindle Magic
What can drag a baby away from Dora?
New Spindles:
They came in the other day. I got them from Two Waters on Etsy Lovely little spindles. Baby Boogie has her hands on them in the photo. A split second after the photo she tried her version of spinning with them. Which I didn't catch. One of these days I'll take a little video of it. She waves the spindles in the air like wands. All the while looking at them and expecting they will magically turn the bits of fluff into yarn like she sees Mom do. Did you see a million blogger posts yesterday and also earlier in the week? I have my blog running at wordpress, but it's not pretty. I keep messing with themes and colors and oh my. Hopefully over the weekend I'll get my archives over there, make it all pretty and presentable for guests.
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Project Spectrum
Project Spectrum starts today. I love this knit along. My life revolves around color in case you're new here. I think it was especially cool to see so many in blogland knitting in color with this project last year. This year will be especially interesting to see what people do with the color combinations.
The kit I designed for this month are Lacy mittens in Alpaca. In a new colorway called storm clouds.
Joni did a fantastic job knitting them. I also knit a pair in the Texas yarn. You won't see mine because I did them in the Club's colors for February (which doesn't ship for another 20 days). I'll bring them to SPA with me. If you go to that, you'll get a sneak peak at February's colors.
If you couldn't find the "Big Ball" sweater yarn. You can find it in the Worsted and the Chunky sections of my website. Or if you want a different colorway you can email me to work on colors or choose from some of the existing colorways on my Custom yarn page.
If this post is wonky or any others are then it's bloggers fault. Like, all my archives have been inaccessable. I've been trying not to switch to the new blogger (I'll los the look of my blog) and they automatically changed a bunch of stuff on me.
I've been trying to switch over to wordpress but I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong. For some reason I just can't get it to come up.I've been pulling my hair trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong. Eventually I'll wave good bye to blogger because of the changes they're making. I may not have any hair by that time, but we're usually ok with that.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Big Balls
I've got big balls
I've got big balls
And they're such big balls
Handpainted big balls
And he's got big balls,
And she's got big balls,
But we've got the biggest balls of them all!
I figured I'd borrow a little from AC\DC for the introduction of the biggest balls of them all.
Girl Beast wasn't too sure about wearing the yarn on her head. She had to sit still for several seconds. It's an immense ball that is the same size as her head. This is the yarn that I've fallen head over heals in love with. Adrian mentioned this stuff a couple of weeks ago. It's fantastic stuff. Soft, huge and inexpensive. Just how I like it. I really don't know how to describe this stuff without sounding like an ad or a love sick teenager.
There is Worsted weight and Bulky weight. I started a sweater in Bulky weight. This is what one ball got me:
2 sleeves and 6 inches of a 40 inch body. It should only take 3 balls to finish this thing. 3 balls! Weaving in ends will be easy! I'm hoping to have it done by SPA and have the free pattern to give away.I'll be updating the site this afternoon with super big ball sweater yarn, sock yarns, fibers and the new kit.
Monday, January 29, 2007
Eating Monday
Not Banana Bread, Banana Muffins.
Don't call it banana bread. I've been informed that Banana bread is yucky but banana muffins are ok, especially if you use the skull muffin tin.
2c whole wheat flour
3 tsp Baking Powder
2 large over ripe Bananas
1 cup Applesauce
1/2 tsp each - Vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon
1 cup of severly chopped pecans
1/3 c oil
Optional - 1 cup sweetener (sugar, brown rice syrup, etc)
Mix it all up
Throw it into your grease tins.
Put it in a preheated oven - 400F
It takes about 20-30 minutes to cook and there you go.
Strange as it may sound, banana muffins are good with peanut butter. I may be channeling Elvis but really, I like it. It's an extra protein kick for your day too.
Elsewhere
We had good mail this past week.
Boogie Baby has taken a shine ot the awesome safety goggles that Chris sent me. She was concerned for my eye safety since I seem to be a slob. The apple didn't fall far from the tree. I'm not sure what Baby has on her, but I guarantee it didn't get in her eyes!
I finished this sock the endof last year. It's the sock from January's club. I love that colorway. So much so that I've dyed the new yarn in it and am almost half done with a sweater. Tomorrow, I'll show off that sweater....
Friday, January 26, 2007
I shot the cow
It was a quick death. Easy decision.
It's tax time. Yes, this is long, work with me. Tax time last From January until April 15th for me. In January it starts with the Sales tax payments and estimated taxes to the federal government. Fun stuff. But it doesn't end. I need to diligently chip away at the pizza box of receipts I have.
Back to the dead cow.
In filing taxes I realized that if I opened a shop under a name different than my business name, I would need to get a new Tax ID or change the business name altogether. I didn't want to completly change it. I would rather eat my wool than file another set of tax documents.
The argyle cow will now be turned into a mascot. Spunky the argyle wearing cow. Or maybe I'll put argyle on a sheep. Maybe I'll put argyle on a whole barnyard full of animals. It's a compromise I can live with. So I suppose the cow isn't dead, it's just been kicked to the sidelines.
Thank you for all the yarny compliments on the last post. The yarn finishing is with good timing. This happened earlier this week:
That crumpled up look, is pretty much how it got all felty. And what you can't tell is that it was the size for a 7 year old and is now the size for a 2 year old. If only the arms weren't felted closed, Baby boogie would have a warm bunny sweater. Bunny INTARSIA that is. Did you read that?
INTARSIA
I hate intarsia.
I avoid intarsia.
The bunny sweater will become a tote bag and the new sweater will have to replace the bunny one. There will NOT be bunnies on the new one. Again, I'd rather eat the wool than make another one with intarsia.
I would say I would start on the sweater now but I had gotten in some new yarn the other day and I'm smitten. I'll have to tell you about that next week. The love is so new, it makes me all giggly and giddy.
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Spinny Spinny
I've spinning tons lately. Less knitting more spinning. I've been working at finishing up projects and starting new ones. I've been up since 5 with no coffee and the brain isn't thinking in words. I can however provide photos.
Remember Twisted Knitters? This is my project for that. I had been spinning it on spindle here and there in between other projects. I finished it up last week, wound it into a center pull ball and am plying it. It's 3 ounces of South African Fine in the Hot Rod Colorway. I could have had the plying done by now but I'm bringing this to SPA with me for a plying on the spindle demo.Speaking of SPA - I added a ticker to the top of my page. Just over 3 weeks to go. I can't wait!
There is still more spinning:
A new sweater project. I'm 3 of 6 or 8 bobbins into it. I'll be writing an article for Knittyspin to go along with it too.
This is yarn that I started when I first got my Louet almost a year ago. I don't know why but I chose to test out the newest wheel to the stable by making a navajo three ply that is DK weight. Sock yarn of course. I finally finished up the second skein. It's not shown because it was drying and wet yarn can catch a cold if it goes out in the snow. The colorway is Boogie Woogie and I wouldn't mind making more in this color.
This was a club fiber. Berry Pickin' in BFL. I had sampled it as a thick and thin but I loved it so much I had to do a 2 ply. Those white flecks are snow, I took the photos as it started to snow the other day.
Finally, I finished the yarn for GirlBeast's sweater. I have more to say on this but it's a whole other entry and my brain still doesn't seem to be able to form words.
Monday, January 22, 2007
Eating Monday
Today we're having toast.
You put one, maybe 2 slices if you're feeling brave, into the toaster. Wait for the ding or the popup. Take out the toast, don't burn yourself on the hot goodness. Then spread on an even coat of margarine. If you're feeling really daring you can add some cinnamon and sugar. Nothing heavy though, not today.
Toast, how exciting.
I don't really want to think of anything bigger or better yet.
The house was hit with the stomache flu. I know where we picked it up too. The damn doctor's office. I should boycott that place this time of year. Baby Boogie had a check up last week and a flu shot. I figured her being sick at the end of last week was just the flu shot. Boy was I wrong.
We are recovering though, slowly but surely. I should be able to work today and start getting club packed up so it can ship this week.
In lieu of anything else because I'm tired and saving energy for work.... Check this out Environmental Defense. It's worth checking out. Melting ice caps have been on TV and in commercials lately so it's not being completly ignored anymore. Hopefully you've heard about it. It's worth checking out and putting a slow on Global Warming if we can. Thank you Dianna for passing this on to me.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
-2
That's the degrees in Farenheit today. I feel bad for all the people that have to work outside, like Boogie Dad, but frankly it's not winter without a little cold weather. I might actually light a fire in the fireplace this year, something I thought I would do without. Not to mention, knitting on cold days is somehow much more satisfying than knitting during the hot days summer.
So what have I been working on?
Miss Kate is collecting fun fur hats for the kids at Children's Hospital. If you click the link you'll get the poop on what's up and why fun fur. So I left my warm little house and bought some fun fur-ish stuff. The actual fun fur I could find seemed scratchy so I spent my time at Joann's fondling balls. Of course if the balls don't already belong to someone, you don't get ejected from the store. It's hard a lesson to learn. Only fondle balls that don't already belong to another knitter.
So I settled on nylon stuff that has a fun fur like appearance. It's not that mass of porcupine quills but it doesn't feel like porcupine quills either. See that whitish one? It's so riculously soft and slippery that the ball of yarn is falling apart. Luckily that means it doesn't knot up either so tangles aren't hard to get apart. Which means I haven't thrown any projects across the room lately.Just to make sure I have an overabundance of projects on the needles...
Yes that would be a sleeve. A big sleeve. I'm not giving up what it is yet. It's a new pattern. Most of the yarn being used is Cascade 220.Because some of you have asked....
Slowing down? I'm spending more time trying to figure out how to get out of having to slow down than actually slowing down. I've not begged my doctor for valium or some other mind altering drug to aid in the "slowing down". I'm still not convinced that I HAVE to slow down. Yeah, the last words of someone being shut in the large van taking her off to the boobie hatch. mmm, padded rooms.
Monday, January 15, 2007
Eating Monday
It is a holiday here in the US. It's Martin Luther King Jr. Day. I wonder if we had him still today if all the people in this country still struggling for civil rights, would have it any easier....
I'm taking the day off. Husbeast is home after being away on business for 5 days. I'll be sitting next to him taking up space on the couch with my knitting. I'm making you wait until tomorrow to see what it is though. I'll give you a hint, I cast on for new projects.
It's also a snow day! The storm is supposed to be a big one but we have yet to have a lasting snow, unlike New Mexico.
On to the food, because even though I'm taking the day off from work, we all have to eat. Today is a Mock Twofer. Or rather a twofer of mocks. Mock chicken fingers and Mock beef stew.
Mock Chicken fingers.
I made these with roasted vegies last Tuesday, even the picky Girl Beast ate them.Tempeh
2 Tbs Soy sauce
1 Tbs Red wine vinegar
Bread crumbs
Frying oil if you so choose.
Cut the Tempeh into 1/4 inch slices. Place in the bottom of a sauce pan. Add in the Soy Sauce and the red wine vinegar. Add enough water to just cover the tempeh. Heat on medium until boiling, then simmer for 15 minutes. Let them cool so you can touch them.
If you eat eggs you can roll them in eggs and then bread crumbs, otherwise just wetting them a bit and rolling in the bread crumbs works. I usually season my bread crumbs with Garlic salt and pepper. Sometimes I add in other spices like oregano or Basil but for the kids, I kept it simple.
I chose to fry mine in 1 Tbs of Canola oil. It doesn't soak up much of the oil so I didn't worry about the extra fat, you can bake it under the broiler until crisp if you want to avoid the whole oil thing.
Mock Beaf Stew
Part of the reason this is a twofer is that I made extra roasted vegies the night before and that's what I used for the vegies for this dinner. Planning makes things easier sometimes.1 large onion
2 cups sliced mushrooms
3 cloves garlic
4 potatoes
2 cups baby carrots
1 cup of seitan chopped (optional)
3 Tbs Soy
2 Tbs Barley Miso (or other brown miso if you're avoiding wheat)
1 cup Vegetable stock
1 cup white wine
1 cup of water
2 Tbs Arrowroot (or other thickener)
I roasted the vegies with garlic, salt, pepper, basil and oregano. It gives them more flavor and makes the 'stew' quicker especially if you've cooked the vegies the night before.
If you are adding in the seitan, sear it first. It will give it that little bit of crust that you get on beef.
In a pan I add in the stock, miso, soy, water and wine. I heat on medium and blend together, never boiling just making it warm. I scoop up some of the hot liquid in a cup. I add the arrowroot to the cup of liquid and make sure it's blended well. Then I return it to the big pot to thicken it.
When that's done, the sauce is hot and thick, I add in all the vegies and seitan. Let it warm through (especially if the vegies were cold from being in the fridge). Eat. I made chease biscuits to go with it. It's breakfast time and just thinking about this, I want my mock stew for breakfast.
Knitting
I'm saving my knitting projects for tomorrow, but I had to show you some mini's I got for Christmas. They arrived after Christmas but I keep mini's hanging about all the time.
Left to right are 1: Monogrammed sweaters from my friend Jackie, 2: A wreath with a sock from Joni, 3: a pair of socks from Rachel that look like they were knit in Spunky yarn Berry Pickin'. I'm tempted to try them on some of Girl Beast's smaller dolls but I don't want to give her ideas.I'm off to enjoy the day off and the new falling snow. The girls might actually get use of their snow suits yet.
Friday, January 12, 2007
Slow Down
What is this "slow down" you speak of? Is that what happens when you die? Just laying there all still like? Or do you get to still do stuff? I only have 2 speeds, all go or all stop. I'm not sure there is an in between.
I better find the in between speed.
I went to the doctor and while there are some more tests to run (I think she's just trying to be thorough), she told me I would probably just need to slow it down. This is going to be a learning experience. So I spent yesterday afternoon trying to find some place that has classes in "slowing down". Can you believe it? Not one course. I bet most of you out there already know how to "chill".
Then I read Margene's post. My wheel has been in the shop. I figure it's a good little demo and Baby Boogie likes to play with it too much, pinched fingers owie. I've been spindling lately but the wheel is a little more relaxed. Sure it goes through fiber faster, but I move less. I tend to walk around when I spindle. And then I set the spindle down and someone decides to pick up where I left off.
I think she was trying to figure out hwo to make it spin.Chill out part 1:
I made this:
Sugar free of course.Then Spider Gus came back into the house:
That bag on there is 8 ounces of Cashmere.If that isn't luxury and calming spinning, I don't know what is. The goal is to spin it as a light sport weight yarn, and to make enough of it for a sweater.
The sweet husbeast suggested I find a knitting and/or spinning group to hang out with. I had hoped that my big shop would be open in February and I'd have one there but it looks like it will be a bit longer. I do have room for a small group of spinners with wheels or a good sized group of knitters. But if any of you Mainers know of a good one in Lewiston/Auburn or the Topsham/Bath/Brunswick areas, let me know.
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Toot toot toot
Announcements!
Oh, my. Things happen fast over here. Woosh! so I have a few announcements I want to share with you all. Most of it is business related but since my business is also knitting and my passion, it's worth mentioning here.
1
Do you recognize this wheel?If not, it's a Schacht matchless single treadle. You might know the double treadle better. Well, the Matchless wheels, the Schacht-Reese Saxony wheels, the spindles, the little flip looms and more are coming to Spunky Eclectic! You can see them HERE
The looms and one wheel will be here for the SPA show. The rest will follow shortly. I can't wait to get these all set up in the shop. I only have one Fricke and my Louet set up for display but once the Schachts get here, I'll have the little showroom all set up pretty. The argyle cow is almost here, I can feel it.
2
Project Spectrum is about to start again!You probably all knew this already though, didn't you?
The club will work within the color ideas posed for project spectrum. Funny thing, I have colors planned out until May and they already fit in well with the ideas posed for spectrum. I'm excited to be starting this again.
I also have another little thing. I'm doing to try and do a new kit for each section of spectrum. The patterns are all drawn up, I just need to dye all the various yarns and get them test knit.
3
Tomorrow there is an update and a sale will start on the yarn. I know I'm telling you a day early, but I've been forgetting to blog about my updates so I'm telling you now. Spend $40 on yarn and get a free 200 yard sampler of the Skinny sock. It's a $9 value. Each $40 spent on yarn gets you a sampler. With the samplers I usually make a pair of 4 inch ankle socks for myself. The sale will run until the 17th or until I run out of samplers.
Ok, that's it. There is more going on over here but for some reason the brain is stuck. Too much work and not enough rest. I figure once the shop is up and going good, I'll rest then, right?
Monday, January 08, 2007
Eating Monday
I'ts been a long time since I've done one of those. It feels like it's been months since we've had a full work week. I've been cooking and eating so I have plenty of recipes to share. Last Friday I started to feel really sick and well, Saturday I was a couch jockey but this soup helped immensely. Unfortunately, I ate it all before remembering to photograph it.
Boogie Hot and Sour Soup
1 lg Onion
2 cups Mushrooms
3 stalks Celery
1-2 Summer squash (or Zuchinni)
4 large Carrots
1/4 Cup Red wine vinegar
2-3 T Good Soy Sauce like Shoyu
1-2 teaspoon Ginger if it's dry - fresh you can use 1/2 teaspoon
1-3 teaspoons red pepper Flakes
1-3 teaspoons Cayenne
1 teaspoon Black pepper
1 teaspoon Corriander
2 Cans of Vegie Broth
Saute the vegies - adding them to the pan in the order that they show up in the recipe. When they're starting to cook down add all the rest of the ingredients. Sauteing the vegies isn't entirely necessary but it creates a different flavor that is worth the effort. If you want protein in your dish, flesh needs to be cooked before you toss in all the vegies, tofu can be added in at the end.
The key to this dish is to let it simmer on low for at least 3-4 hours. I mentioned to Miss Purlewe that the soup was good but didn't make the back of my teeth ache like a good sour soup should (say that 5 times fast). I had eaten a bowl for lunch on Friday about an hour after starting it. My bowl for supper was much better and had that good back of the teeth ache. yum.
Knitting
I did some of that this past weekend. Very little though. Since I was sick and off on Friday and Saturday, I worked Sunday. I also did very little knitting. I laid down on the couch with an afghan and watched Band of Brothers. I did manage to finish Dad's sock though.
The sock is a little stiff sitting on the wood pile today. I swear I'll stop these sophmoric puns eventually.
Friday, January 05, 2007
It's that time of the year
Everyone is talking stash and FO's. They're talking about a great desire to finish up their UFO's or as Scout suggests, Just Frog it!.
Then there are all those that are setting up groups where you talk of yarn diets and stash only knitting pledges.
Of course there are bunches of other groups that are centered around clearing up the stash, the UFO's and WIP's. I admire you all for putting your
I have a tendency to rebel against these things. Even though I have a crazy stash (I'm still working on cataloging it all), you won't see my name up there. Rules are made to be broken. I'm on the anti-diet. While I really want to finish UFO's and knit from stash, I know I'm a rule breaker. If I sign up, you know I'll cast on for 12 projects and go on a yarn buying spree just to give myself some cushion to survive it. You have your yarn diet, I'll be over here on the wool pig plan stuffing the rafters with bags of yarn.
1. is mostly cascade, elann finds, and miscellaneous stuff. 2. is all Noro 3. is peace fleece, cotton ease, rowan, and some patons in there too. If only there wasn't all this duct work down there, I'd have more space. Silly duct work, taking up valuable yarn real estate.I wish I had a good knitting project to show you. The big project of this week has been to organize the shop. I don't think I've gotten much knitting done. All my knitting time has been eaten up with organizing. It's looking better though:
Over the holidays everything became pretty crazy and things were left in the boxes they were shipped in. Well, technically they're sitll in the boxes they were shipped in, it just looks better. I couldn't see what I had in stock. I knew what box they were in, but I knew it could be easier than that. Now I have it all nice and neat. I did have another good reason to clean.
These two devices of supreme torture held all the boxes. Now they'll be what I use to run myself ugly.
I'll be doing at least 100 miles between now and April. I'm hoping this is what gets me healthy and out on the road running this spring. My pretty pink sneakers that I bought 2 years ago have yet to be punished on the roads. Slowly but surely, I'll get there.
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Getting Artsy
I woke up to this:
Or at least, I woke up and a couple of hours later, I saw this. With such a successful photo under my belt, I'm thinking that I can take a good photo of Dad's sock.I think of all the unsuccessful photos I've taken of this one poor sock. I think there are more unsuccessful photos than there are stitches in it.
1.On the leather couch, there is too much shine from the flash. You didn't think I could remember to take a daytime photo? So I played with positioning on the couch, it's a nice neutral background. Nothing works. 12 photos, gone.
2. On the white-ish rug. It's the ISH that gets me. I knew this would happen. This rug stayed rolled up after my move here from CA 10 some years ago. I knew what kids and dog and men would do to it but we needed a rug and she shal be scrificed. 2 photos and we deside to change venues.
3. On the hard wood floor. Everything looks good on this. 27 photos, I had to count. Flash, no flash. Flash is icky and no flash is blurry. I obviously jiggle too much to not have the camera stabilizer on and I haven't figured out yet how to shut off the flash and keep on the stabilizer. No, I haven't read the manual. Do you think I'll find something in there?
4th venue. The wood pile.
6 photos later, I get this:
The sock likes wood. Wood is manly. I got carried away on the leg and now have 10 inches.... I swear I'm as bad as an 8 year old boy because the subject of wood and 10 inches is killing me. Maybe I just need more sleep. I'm sure there was more I wanted to say but I just lost it.
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Knitting in the New Year
I did indeed spend some couch time over the weekend. Not as much as I would have liked. Short of gluing my butt to the couch and hiring a servant, I don't think anytime would have been enough.
Last year on new Years day I cast on for a new project. It was a quick project that was done the same day but none the less, it was a new project. It set how the year was going to continue. I ended with 27 UFO's. I want to try and wittle that down by half. I spent the weekend working on an old project. Baltic.
I finished the front and I'm 3/4 up the back. I don't know why I set it down, this sucker is easy.I also spent some time with Dad's next pair of socks, already on the needles. The photo for those looked weird and frosty so I'm not even going to bother posting that. I had swatched and written the pattern out for Mom's new sweater last week. I wanted to cast on for that, but I avoided it. We didn't want any new project juju slipping into our New year. Yes, it's a silly notion but it's my notion.
For those that are questioning the magknits pattern:
Here it is laid out on the floor so you can see it better:
And an action shot taken before the holidays.
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Wrap up
List Your FO's
You can find them all HERE. I even updated it all nice and neat. There are still several pictures missing but those I won't be able to post until the fall of 2007.
The final tally is 46 projects:
18 Socks
8 Mittens/mitts
12 Sweaters/vests
2 Shawls/scarves
5 Hats
1 linen cloth
List Your Works In Progress
You have to be kidding me here. There are 27 projects.
Go HERE if you really want to see the horror that is my WIP pile.
What skeletons are in your knitting basket?
I think the thing that I hate having in there the most is a sweater from my handspun that I had great mojo for in 2005. I dont think I picked it up at all in 2006. I love it but I lost interest in working on it as new projects came along. I'll finish it someday I'm sure.
What was your favorite project of 2006?
It's hard to pick one. The one that comes to mind is one that I can't even show you. It would be the Gansey socks that I did. There are a handful of people that did see them and if it wasn't an item that had to go to a publication, there would have been a fight for them. My favorite that I can show you is:
I'm wearing them right now in fact. I love these socks.
What projects will you never knit again?
I don't think there was anything this past year that I will NEVER knit again. I wasn't fond of knitting with Linen, but I was really pleased with the end project. I'd like to knit a tank top out of it someday.
What was your major knitting accomplishment in 2006?
That would probably have to be this sweater:
It's a really nice sweater that I wish I still had, but the accomplishment comes in the fact that it took me 9 days from the time the yarn arrived, swatch, pattern creation, knitting, blocking, and sent off to the publisher. It let me know that even though I don't like to work that fast, I can do it.
What was your favorite yarn of 2006?
Elsa's Cormo
This yarn was for the Gansey socks that I did. I loved it so much that even before I had finished the socks, I had ordered more for me just so I could duplicate the socks.
What's your favorite yarn overall?
Overall? You're killing me with these questions.
I'd have to choose my handpainted yarns. I'm having so much fun working with them and coming up with new patterns. I could go on forever.
What new knitting techniques did you learn in 2006?
I don't think I did anything new in 2006. At least I can't remember doing any new techniques.
What are your knitting goals for 2007?
My goal is to try and finish a few more WIP's and to work a bit more from Stash. I am working on redoing that still. I have the list of all the "sweater" amounts of yarns done, now it's time for the socks. I think I'm avoiding that. Maybe tomorrow.
If you Call a Cab tonight, make sure to call a cab.
Friday, December 29, 2006
Couch potato New Year
If you need me, this is where I'll be. On the couch with my afghan, my knitting and the 2007 Burpee seed catalog. I'll be dreaming big dreams of huge weedless gardens and a bounty of vegies.I had big plans of redoing the stash page. I really wanted to see what stash I went through this year. Then reality hit, with all the work I did, I really didn't go through much. Not to mention I bought a couple of new things and found a few others that I obviously had hidden from myself.
I took a million photos and still didn't get to the sock yarn. Tha amount of sock yarn is scary. I'm thinking at this point a simple spread sheet would be faster, and shorter. I might actually get off my comfy couch to go drown in stash yarns.
Whatever you do this weekend, I hope it's fun and safe. A short 10 years ago fun and safe were mutually exclusive words. Now here I am uttering them together. What age will do to a girl.
Happy New Year!
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Done
The holidays are done and I finished it all. You knew I would though, didn't you?
The 23rd
After finishing up the shipping/working for the day, I finished the sewing of the Christmas stockings.
We made sugar free sugar cookies and highly sugared but killer brownies. Then after bed for the girls I was able to finish the knitting of Girl Beast's sweater. What a big "phew" moment that was.The 24th
I cooked. I finished off the Brownies and made egg rolls for the Xmas Eve party. My sweet cousin came over and helped with the Egg rolls, which made them go so much faster. Then I made a pumpkin pie for Christmas dinner. In between the cooking I was able to sew buttons, weave ends, and graft underams of Girl Beast's sweater. Tada!
About 15 minutes before we left for Husbeast's parents, I realized that I had not made Girl Beast's Christmas Pj's. There were 2 pair cut out sitting on the sewing machine but neither had been finished. So I rushed down and litterally whipped up a set of Pj's. No one knew that they only took 15 minutes to make, in fact it shocked me that they were that fast. They are no frills and no buttons, but she liked them none-the-less.After that I was able to breath a little. I wasn't working again for a bit and all the gifts were done. More cooking was ahead but that's the norm. Yesterday I lay around like a complete slob in my new robe. I lay around sketching out ideas and knitting.
I finished Gram's 3rd pair of socks. The way she washes them, she should have enough to last her the week. Dad and I are now the only ones that don't have enough socks for a week. I'm working on Dad socks now. Since Dad works outside all day, he gets 2 pair then I'll work on some for me. Phew.
Really, it's nice to have all that hustle and bustle done for another year. The holidays are nice, I just wish they were a little more relaxing leading up to it. I hope you all had a good weekend and wonderful plans for the New year.
Friday, December 22, 2006
Jellyfish don't knit
My back and/or neck have been in pain for a couple of weeks. I have been worshipping the heating pad and the bottle of advil instead of going to the doctor. I know what they'll give me as it happened before. Muscle relaxes. While they can be fun and I enjoy my time as a limp out of water jellyfish.... Jellyfish don't knit.
FInally last night after going to the grocery and gather another round of food stuff to do holiday baking, I got out the bottle of what we call fukkit. You might call it wine. I don't drink often so one small glass should be good enough to relax the muscles and I can sit comfortably and knit.
I became a sleeping jellyfish. I'm not sure if a single stitch was knit but Husbeast woke me up and I still had knitting in my lap. I need to measure. Always with the measuring. It is starting to look deceptively long. Or I'm getting less objective as time goes on.
But I woke up fresh as a baby butt ready to get on with the day and my regimen of advil and heating pad. No more Fukkit until the sweater is done. I swear. This is the sky I woke up to. Or rather, the sky as I was writing this, I woke up to a black sky at 5 am.
This is my "Good morning" sky. I'm shipping club right now so I better get to work. I hope you all have a great Holiday weekend whatever you celebrate or not. Happy Hanukah, Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanza and a have a hell of a great Festivus.
Thursday, December 21, 2006
The ruler is out
Feverish knitting has started.
You'd think I would have started the feverish pace sooner but I believe in "it will get done when it gets done. I believed in that unitl I heard from Girl Beast. "Doesn't look like you have a lot done. You got Baby's sweater done but you aren't going to finish mine?" I argueed back that she at least got her mittens which Baby Boogie hadn't yet. I didn't get any words back. I got the pouty lip and she walked away.
She's good that one. 6 years old, she knows.
I was knitting round and round Knit 3, purl 1, Knit 3, purl 1, Knit 3, purl 1,....So I got out the ruler. I can look at this sweater and know that it's not 12 inches long.
I know this. Yet for some reason in my little pea brain I keep hoping that the sweater has magically grown without my eyes being able to discern the growth. I pull out the measuring tape. Somewhere back in my skull I hear "come on 12 inches!"
6 SIX
We feel let down.
Then I hear from the same place "What about a cropped sweater? Cropped sweaters are all the rage. Just look at the stores, they're filled with cropped sweaters for kids."
Cropped means short and I don't need my little girl's belly hanging out. Sweaters are supposed to be comfortable and warm. You better knit faster.
I'm not above arguing with myself. Nor am I above acknowledging the little people in my head as another body and calling ourselves "we". Not at this point in the season.
I better be knitting (or getting my work day done early) instead of on this computer. Knit faster. 4 days.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Mothah
My Mothah rocks!
I will be able to ship the club before Christmas all because of Mom.
2 days ago, she walks in with packages for me to help her ship. Then she throws down her coat and starts to wind yarn. She wound half the club yarns for me. Yesterday she did the same thing and finished winding for the club!
What an incredible help that was. So I'm trying to think of a good thank you. Really my Mom and Dad help out tons around here. I had designed a gurnsey for Dad and now I have one designed for Mom too. I know I've said a million times, I'm going to make them sweaters. I want to and every time I get started they ask for socks instead.
I gladly make them socks, but all the help they give, seems like they deserve more than plain little socks. We'll see if my ideas come to fruition for the gurnseys. I'll show off the sketches as soon as I fine tune them into something that might mean something to someone other than me.
In the meantime, I have socks to finish.
And a sweater for a little girl of which there is no picture. I am in that stage of knitting where there is no end and you see no size improvement.Just to give you something to do - because no one wants to work the week before a paid holiday... Instead of writing "wash me" on the backof someone's dirty car..
Dirty car art
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Eating Monday
I'm going to try and post a few recipes this week. I know this is a huge cooking time of year for people. Today's recipe is a quickie. It's something that Girl Beast made in Girl Scouts last week. So you know it's easy and perfect to do with kids.
Pretzels (best to get the kind that don't have huge holes)
Hershey's Kisses
M&M's
Glutten free people - you can get gluten free pretzels in the health section of most grocerie stores. Sugar free people, the sugar free chocolates are fantastic with this. I take a few chocolate chips sweetened with barley malt (not glutten free) and use that instead.
Lay out the pretzels on a baking sheet, top with the chocolate kisses or the chips. Bake at 350F for about 5 minutes - watch them, you just want the chocolates to melt. Pull them out and immediately top with the M&M's if you're going all out. Voila. That simple. Good kids activity. Then they can eat them all, get hyper and you can pawn them off onto other relatives.
Knitting
Because knitting is the only thing that's keeping me barely sane around here. That and the sage advice from The Learning Channel. I particularly like Life Lessons #18, #24 and #40. I think there are a few lessons they missed. I might have to email them on that one.
One sweater done, one to go. One week left. One week left and I have to work all week, but also sew 3 Xmas stockings, 2 pairs of Pj's and knit that sweater. I have my doubts. At least my stocking is the one out of the 4 that's done. 
Please excuse the early morning crappy photo. I swear it looks better than that. Santa is bringing all the new stockings or they would have had to be done and hanging on the fireplace already. I suppose if they don't get done, I can blame Santa.My sweet Aunt Nancy sent me a ton of buttons for the girls sweaters. they both will need Spring Cardi's so I'll definately have use for them.
There's more Ladybugs and a ton of obnoxious pink. When I say obnoxious, it really is the most obnoxious pink available. Girl Beast loves them.
Friday, December 15, 2006
Giftie Issue #4
Here it is, the final gift issue of 2006. This one is all about the stocking stuffer. From ridiculous to cool, cheap to ridiculaously expensive, here it is. Stuff your stockings good.
This company's name is All Stix. The name fits well. You need to check these out. They are so cool! So many needles and hooks and none of them plain. I think we all need at least one pair of these in our stockings this year (even if you don't "do" Christmas, hang a stocking and ask for these)
Are you the cool cat at the knitting cirlce? The coffee mug or plain ice tea glass not good enough? This "Pimp Cup" is for you.
Wild woman knitter pins They used my hair as a model for these little ladies.
I've heard/read many a blog post that says "I am a princess dammit!". Well dear, I found the mug for you Princess clicks here
These Skulls need to be in my stocking this year. You hear that? I may not be a princess but I need more skulls. If someone should buy me these and they're gone, she's others.
Have you ever looked at your can of soda and wondered if there was more life in the can. You felt sad throwing the can in the recycling. You missed it? Proclaim yourself as a Soda Lover
Arleta posted this earlier in the week but it needed to be posted again. Knitting T's - I need a new knitting tee. I need one of the skully ones. Santa, are you reading this. I've been good and I know you're not going to help out with the earlier list of aching legs, naps and the secret compartment behind the fridge. Get me a t-shirt and I won't "doctor" the milk and cookies.
Got a big nose? This guy will make you feel better. Ernesto will boost your spirits. I have a big nose but I'd rather have the Big Brown Hairy Eye. These things are awesome! Every good little knitter needs a mascot.
You thought knitting a bra was silly? Well this isn't. It's practical. If you get hungry but have no snacks, you can eat your bra. Mmmmm Candy Bra
You know your teeth could use some sprucing up. You drink too much tea and or coffee. They're stained and they just don't shine like they should. You could get a ready made pair of these Teeth or have them make you a custom set. I bet they'd make you a set with yarn and needles if you said pretty please. You know you want it.
I have to end here. I can't imagine a gift more perfect than bling teeth. Not to mention I need to get to work on a shop update. Happy Shopping!
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Wanna See?
Would you like to see the mistakes I've made this week?
Sure you do. My mistakes make everyone feel better about their little ones too. Right?
Number 1
I threw Baby Boogies striped sweater in the laundry. I knew I was doing it. It's made of superwash and I was assured that the man only uses cold water. I think it was the hot dryer that did it though.
The stripey sweater used to be a wee bit bigger than the blue one beneath it. So, um, it's not a mistake. My experiment worked! aha! Cascade 220 superwash does felt when you put it in a hot dryer for an hour or so.Number 2
I must have been doing some fierce dyeing yesterday. Although I didn't get a lick of dye on my body. I did get several spots above my EYE.
I'm not entirely sure what made me think I needed a picture of it. Now though, I'm thinking it wasn't a mistake. The blue dye hopped up there to remind me to wax my sasquatch eyebrows before the many pictures of Christmas. Now if only I can get the dye off. I might have to wax that off too.Number 3
Just to make you groan, I'm only using one word....GAUGE. Scary isn't it. The only time I really do a swatch is if I'm knitting one of my own designs. I need to know gague before I start. Well, I'm bad, sometimes I don't even swatch or rather, you know my theory on sleeves. This time I was starting with the body and I went at thinking I'd get 6 sts/1 inch. Nope. 5 sts/1 inch. I reworked the pattern to accomodate. Fine. Now the damn thing won't even hit 5. I'm at 4.5 which is unacceptable.
Crazy at it is. As I write this, I'm thinking that I might need to go back and try to make 6 sts/1 inch. This would be my punishment for starting a new knit before the years end. Maybe I should leave it to sit until January 1. So it's not a mistake, it's a lesson in designing and keeping promises to your other knits.Scratch that title up there. This post was about learning. If indeed I did learn something. If I won't ever throw a sweater in the wash for husbeast to do. If I will have time and remember to wax that fur forest above my eyes. If I will remember to swatch and check gauge carefully.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Subtle
Many words can be used to describe my family, subtle would nto be one of them. Oh, sometimes they think they're being subtle but it's not hard at all to figure out what they're getting at.
Gram had a conversation about socks last week with my Mom. She was wearing the socks that I made her and mentioned how nice they were and how warm her feet. Gram wished she didn't have just one pair, she wants to wear wool socks every day.
Then she suggested that maybe she could borrow yarn and needles from me and make herself another pair. She didn't want to bother me since it's the busy time of year But then she starts to think out loud about how hard it is to count and remember what number she's on these days....
I never thought about how much counting there is in knitting until Gram mentioned it. There really is quite a bit. Even if you have the needles spaced right there is a certain amount of memory needed for the heel. Gram is not very subtle but I don't mind. I like making socks for the family.
I whipped these up out of the Spunky Speckled yarn. Gram can have handwash socks so I'll be using up all my handwash skeins for Gram. Oh, Mom swears she's better now with the handwash socks but, well, now I kow where my defective laundry gene comes from.
This will be the next pair for Gram. They work up fast and I think the colors in the speckles are so cool.
Monday, December 11, 2006
Eating Monday
Banana Walnut Pancakes
Vegan, Sugar free, Gluten free.
Yes, they're good - see:
They each ate 2. Of course Girl beast had the ones with chocolate chips.
Recipe:
1.5 cups Rice Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 shake of Cinnamon
1 TBs Vegetable oil
1 tsp Vanilla
2 large old Bananas, mushed
.5 cup Pecans, crushed well
1.25 cups of Soy milk (if you want thinner batter, you can add more)
Mix it all up and cook like regular pancakes.
At the request of the big one, I added in Chocolate chips. The ones I have are Malt sweetened so they're not exactly Glutten free but they are good. If you're on a glutten free diet, add in your favorite chocolate chips if you need that little chocolate kick in the morning.
Knitting
Proof that I do actually get knitting time.
It's a sample of a pattern that I made several years ago to go with handspun yarn. I finally redid it in regular handpaint. Superwash too. It's cute. I'm sure to find a baby that needs this soon enough. It was actually so quick to knit, I'm thinking of making some for the premie project (and dowsize it of course) or making some for ronald Mc Donald house.Finally, I thought this needed to be published. I received this email from fellow crazy Orange crayon loving Mom, PippiKneeSocks. Thank you lady for the Xmas wish list, now I don't have to find the orange crayon to write mine out, I'll send this one to Santa:
Dear Santa,
I've been a good mom all year. I've fed, cleaned and cuddled my children on demand, visited the doctor's office more than my doctor, sold sixty-two cases of candy bars to raise money to plant a shade tree on the school playground. I was hoping you could spread my list out over several Christmases, since I had to write this letter with my son's orange crayon, on the back of a receipt in the laundry room between cycles, and who knows when I'll find anymore free time in the next 18 years. Here are my Christmas wishes:
I'd like a pair of legs that don't ache (in any color, except purple, which I already have) and arms that don't hurt or flap in the breeze; but are strong enough to pull my screaming child out of the candy aisle in the grocery store. I'd also like a waist, since I lost mine somewhere in the seventh month of my last pregnancy. If you're hauling big ticket items this year I'd like fingerprint resistant windows and a radio that only plays adult music; a television that doesn't broadcast any programs containing talking animals; and a refrigerator with a secret compartment behind the crisper where I can hide to talk on the phone. On the practical side, I could use a talking doll that says, "Yes,Mommy" to boost my parental confidence, along with two kids who don't fight and three pairs of jeans that will zip all the way up without the use of power tools. I could also use a recording of Tibetan monks chanting "Don't eat in the living room" and "Take your hands off your brother," because my voice seems to be just out of my children's hearing range and can only be heard by the dog.
If it's too late to find any of these products, I'd settle for enough time to brush my teeth and comb my hair in the same morning, or the luxury of eating food warmer than room temperature without it being served in a Styrofoam container. If you don't mind, I could also use a few Christmas miracles to brighten the holiday season. Would it be too much trouble to declare ketchup a vegetable? It will clear my conscience immensely. It would be helpful if you could coerce my children to help around the house without demanding payment as if they were the bosses of an organized crime family.
Well, Santa, the buzzer on the dryer is ringing and my son saw my feet under the laundry room door. I think he wants his crayon back. Have a safe trip and remember to leave your wet boots by the door and come in and dry off so you don't catch cold. Help yourself to cookies on the table but don't eat too many or leave crumbs on the carpet.
Yours Always, MOM...!
P.S. One more thing...you can cancel all my requests if you can keep my children young enough to believe in Santa.