Livin' La Needle Loca

...I've been on a vampire kick for a while now. I've read all of the Sookie Stackhouse books from Charlaine Harris and I've been reading vampire books from assorted authors. I've been considering whether its time to read the Lestat books from Anne Rice again (for the 5th or 6th time). Anyway, when the Yarn Wench posted the Vampira colorway, I knew I had to get it! I started it last week and finished it this weekend. Here it is in the skein: ...and the dime shot: Specs: Started 9/20/08 Finished 9/27/08 Falkland top from Yarn Wench in Vampira Spun and plied on Lendrum DT wheel Yield: 302.8 yds Navajo-plied WPI: 17 (average) It was a nice change to do a different colors since I've been spinning lots of purples, oranges, and blues. I finished the cuff on the Monkey socks and started the heel flap. I decided to only do 5 pattern repeats instead of 6—I really prefer a shorter cuff. I love the way the pattern is turning out and the no-purl version is a fast knit. I...

...the Rocking Sock Club installment arrived! Yay, Blue Moon! Here's the link to the spoiler picture: I love the pattern for these...we'll see how long I can hold out before casting these on!

..."Feed me, Seymour": As seen on a neighbor's fig tree. It's been a scattered week. I haven't been sleeping well, so I pretty much don't feel like doing anything during the day. I've been working on the Monkey socks. Last night, I was into the 3rd of 6 pattern repeats, when I came up one stitch short for one of the socks. Since everything was fine at the end of the second repeat, the problem has to be within the last 3 rows. I started frogging back the one sock. Guess I shouldn't knit these while watching Grey's Anatomy! We're in the home-stretch for tomatoes. The plant are beginning to look scraggly, but they are still producing. Here's one of the largest we harvested this year: Up this weekend, I want to finish spinning Vampira and get these Monkey socks back on track. I also want to revisit Dogasaurus—it's starting to be cold in the morning and I think my favorite Pomeranian needs his sweater!

...here is the first look at the new socks: The pattern is the No-Purl version of Cookie A's Monkey socks . I am doing them in Socks That Rock lightweight yarn, in the Little Bunny Foo Foo colorway. I haven't touched the Sea Foam wrap in a few days, so nothing new on that front. As for the Digital SLR camera, I decided it wasn't for me and returned it to my friend. It's a great camera and I got some great pictures with it. However, it doesn't fit my needs right now. Not much else on the craft front. Yeah, I know, kind of boring... So here...have some cat pictures! Presenting: Sombra (Queen of the Universe) and Tica (Ham Extraordinaire)

...it's one of those days. First off: A Big "Welcome to the world!" to my friend Jane's first grandchild. Little Miss K had to be encouraged to show her beautiful face, but she finally arrived Friday night. The little family is doing great and Jane is over the moon (of course!). I started spinning Vampira, Falkland top from Yarn Wench. Here's the first bobbin in progress: I knit a little on the Sea Foam wrap but quickly got bored of it. I started a pair of No-Purl Monkey socks in "Little Bunny Foo Foo" (Socks That Rock from Blue Moon Fiber Arts). No picture yet as there's not much to see yet. I only visited two shops in the shop hop—I just figured that I didn't need the temptation to buy at multiple stores (two was bad enough!) At Full Thread Ahead, I bought the Marinella yarn for Hollis' one-skein capelet. I bought a yarn with purples and lavenders! (no surprise there!) At Purlescence, I went a little more nutso. I bought some unscented So...

...I finished the Silk Waves Scarf last night! Here's Teddy, stylin' in his new scarf: Specs: Finished 9/18 Yarn from Sweaterkits Silk Waves Capelet kit Pattern from Wendy Knits , with one modification Finished length, unblocked: 63 inches I need to block this scarf to flatten out the edges a bit, but I'm at a loss as to where I could stretch it out to dry. The cats lay on top of everything and I know the scarf would be a great temptation. Have to think on this... I am test-driving a digital SLR camera that a friend is selling. It's a Nikon D50. I just borrowed it this week, so I haven't had a chance to read the manual yet, but I did try just taking a few pictures on automatic this morning. First up: Sombra, giving me that look again. She really doesn't like me pointing a camera at her! Next, a picture of some tiny white flowers (Gaura lindheimeri) in the front yard. I have taken at least 50 pictures of these with my little Canon—none have turned out. Here's...

...time flies when you're working hard! I finished my project and am gearing up for the next one. The new work project shouldn't be as intensive at the last one, so I have a little more room to breathe. Nothing new to report on the knitting front. Because I'm working on scarves and wraps, their in progress pictures all look pretty much the same. The Silk Waves scarf [ Ravelry ] is at 51 inches now. When I first started this scarf, I was hoping for at least 50 inches; it looks like I'll probably get 60 inches out of the yarn. I'm just going to keep knitting on it until I run out! No progress on the Sea Foam Wrap [ Ravelry ] since the last picture. I really want to finish Silk Waves this month; once it's done, I'll get back to Sea Foam. So this won't be a picture-less post, here's the rogue cucumber that grew in the middle of our Hmong Cucumbers (see this post ): Yeah, I know it looks like a squash. However, when the Husband cut into it, it was defin...

...work has lightened up a little, but I'm still not done with my project. After finishing the baby cardigan on Saturday, I took a look at the projects in my queue. I couldn't decide which socks to start, so I started a wrap. This is the Sea Foam Scarf pattern from "Ocean Breezes: Knitted Scarves Inspired by the Sea": Now, I have several scarfs, many of which I don't wear, so I really didn't want another one to hang on my door. I really wanted to make this a wrap. After reviewing other people's versions of this on Ravelry, I found one where the knitter used the same yarn, but cast on an extra 10 stitches for an additional pattern repeat. When she blocked it out, it made a nice sized wrap. That's what I wanted and I did the same thing. You may notice that this pattern looks very similar to Mermaid's Morning Surf...you're right! The main difference is that Morning Surf uses 12 rows to complete each pattern; Sea Foam uses 8 rows. Somehow I find ...

...I finished the Tulips Baby Cardigan. It's very cute! Specs: Finished 9/13/08 Pattern and Yarn by Dream In Color Needles: size 7 and 5 US [ Ravelry ] That's all I've worked on today. I've been going through my projects and fiber stash trying to figure out what to do next. I realized that I had not posted pictures of the birthday present that I bought myself—I treated myself to a bunch of fiber from Yarn Wench . Here's a collage: Top: Mourning Dove's Cousin 1 Merino-Silk, Moss Rose 1 Falkland, Grape Fizz 2 Merino-Silk Bottom: Grape Fizz 1 Merino-Silk, Apricot Cinder 1 Merino-Silk, Dragonfly Wings 2 Merino-Silk I love the Apricot Cinder colorway; I now have it in three different fibers! And I can't seem to resist Yarn Wench's updates. I'm going to have to slow down, though...her stuff is wonderful and very reasonably priced, but I need to spin up some of the stash because I'm running out of room! Off to figure out what to do next...

...on my way out to a client site where I'll be most of the day. This project is close to done, so I can relax soon. Here's a picture of how I feel right now: ... busy little bee, except that I'm not in a field of lavender! If I get a chance, I'll post over the weekend. Have a good one!

...things are a little nutso right now. I hope everything will get back to normal (whatever that is) next week.

...Saturday was so hot, I didn't feel like doing much of anything! Craft-wise, I only worked on the Tulips Baby Cardigan. I'm nearly done. I just need to decide whether to redo the i-cord edging on the fronts. It's very tight and I'm afraid it will not loosen up with blocking. I'll have to decide soon... I finally put stuff away in my craft room. It turns out that the craft room is the coolest room in the house...I spent most of Saturday in there. It felt good to get things back in order. Sunday was cooler (relatively speaking), so we ventured out to the Mountain View Art & Wine Festival. I felt sorry for the vendors--at 11:30 am they were already roasting in their booths. We only saw a couple of things that piqued our interest. One vendor was weaving and selling Zapotec rugs—I fell in love with the one woven will all natural-colored wools. The other vendor was Andaluzia Glass—the artist who makes the glass mermaids that I love. The Husband picked a cucumber fr...

...yesterday was quite nice. The Husband hand-delivered flowers for my birthday: and another view... And when I got home, my sister and her family had sent me a lovely arrangement. For my birthday present, the Husband bought me a Mission Fig tree, complete with figs! We both love figs, and I especially love the Mission figs, so this is a great addition to our garden. The postal person brought a present from my friend Jane. Looks at the great gifts she sent! She sent me some Merino pencil roving, Flat Feet sock yarn, an autographed copy of Debbie Macomber's book "Twenty Wishes," and some Debbie Macomber goodies! Jane attended a book signing a few weeks ago and thoughtfully got me the book and goodies! (what a pal!) The roving and Flat Feet yarn colors match nicely, so they are destined to be a set (socks and hat? socks and scarf?) Thanks, Jane !! I received phone calls from the Daughter, my mother, and my ex-mother-in-law (!?). One of my brothers called, too, but I was...

...yeah, another year older. D@mn...I don't feel that old! As I get closer and closer to the next decade, my disbelief grows. Oh well, age is just a number, right? I take comfort in the fact that I'm more physically active than some people my age and that I have a job that frequently requires that I learn something new. Keeping physically and mentally active helps keep me young! Anyway, I have enough craft stash where I need to live a LONG life so I can use it all. That's my plan...live forever!

...few more things done because of Ravelympics. The Recap: Finished: 8/2 Midsummer Paradise socks Blue Moon Fiber Arts , Socks That Rock Lightweight in Midsummers Night Bird of Paradise sock pattern from the Petals Collection by Sundara Yarns 8/9 Plumthorn yarn Pigeonroof Studios Wensleydale top (gift from Terry) Spun on spindle and wheel; plied on wheel Yield : 440 yards, 2-ply WIP : 16 8/10 Foxglove baby socks (knitting) 8/12 Saartje's Bootees (knitting) 8/15 Plumcopper yarn Yarn Wench Merino-silk top (3.8oz) Spun and plied on Lendrum DT wheel Yield : two skeins Navajo-plied, 220.4 yds total WPI : 13 (average) 8/16 Reef 1 yarn Yarn Wench Falkland top (4.1 oz) Spun and plied on a Lendrum DT wheel Two Falkland singles plied with Copper rayon thread Yield : 105.4 yds WPI : 8 8/18 Deep Night 2 yarn Yarn Wench Falkland top (4.1 oz) Spun and Plied on Lendrum DT wheel Yield : 36.4 yds beaded; 145.7 yds not beaded; 182.1 yds total WIP : 13 8/22 Apricot Orchid 2 yarn Yarn Wench Fal...

...technically, this is a holiday, but I'm working a few hours to keep my work project from getting too far behind. At least I can work at home and not have to go into the office... My Silk Waves scarf is now 36 inches long and looks quite lovely. However, I am bored with how long it's taking to knit. So I decided to start a project that I wanted to do when I was knitting all those baby things and got burnt out on little sweaters. I started the Tulips baby sweater [ Ravelry ] and have made great progress: The pattern and yarn are from Dream in Color . So far I love the pattern and the yarn is wonderful to knit! Other than that, I have just been relaxing, knowing that I was going to have to work today and the fact that my work week is going to be crazy. (I know, what's new?!) Oh, yeah, I have to put a recap together for August. Hmmm, guess I'll have to work on that...