Livin' La Needle Loca

...I have a small Halloween tableau on top of our entertainment unit. This is from the graveyard: We don't do much more than that for Halloween. I buy candy for the few trick-or-treaters that come by, but that's about it. When our daughter was younger, we'd get into the whole costume thing and go to Halloween parties. After several years of making costumes, I got a little burned out. You see, I could never justify spending buying a cheap costume from the store...they were so tacky and I knew I could do better. Yes, I spent more money on the fabric and it took time to make them, but it was worth it to see the look on my daughter's face. When she was very small, I made her the requisite bunny and black cat outfits. Later she wanted Wonder Woman, so that was pretty easy. As she got older, she wanted costumes that were a little more involved. One year, she wanted to be a dinosaur. I found a pattern for a stegosaurus, so: (yeah, the spikes were a whole lot of fun!) The year ...

...next time I decide to spin 8 ounces of one color, remind me how long it takes to ply it! Here is Deep Blue Sea (I need to retake these pictures in better light): ...and the close-up: Specs: Started: 10/12/08 Finished: 10/28/08 Seawool top from Creatively Dyed in Deep Blue Sea Spun and plied on Lendrum DT folding wheel Yield: 391 yards traditional 3-ply at 14WPI; 14 yards Navajo-plied at 13WPI Whew! I'm going to go back to knitting for a bit. I'll hold off starting the Pumpkin Spice roving for a few days to give my hands a break!

...at least I managed to get a few things done that I wanted. The biggest job was getting all of my fiber put away. OMG! I have a whole lot more fiber than I thought...it's time to call a moratorium on buying fiber (and yarn, too for that matter). Must.Stop.Looking.At.Yarn.Wench's. Site ! I did not get my sewing machine into the shop. I got involved in spinning the rest of the seawool top and didn't leave the house on Saturday. I finished spinning the singles and started plying the yarn. I'm doing a traditional 3-ply this time: I'm about 2/3rds into the plying, so I should be able to finish it up this week. When I finish that, I think I'll spin up the Pumpkin Spice Falkland top that I bought from Yarn Wench. The colors are wonderfully autumn: Saturday night, the husband and I watched "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull." While I watched, I worked on my February Lady sweater—it's a simple enough pattern that I can work on it while wa...

...then the weekend is not far away!! First, the pictures. The roses are still going strong. This one has a lot of morning dew collected in its petals: I tried taking pictures of the cats this morning, but neither was cooperating. Seems they wanted to sleep or something! Still not a lot of knitting progress, although I did work on the February Lady Sweater [ Ravelry ]last night while I was watching Grey's Anatomy. This is going to be a long knit for me. Up this weekend: I need to put my frustration behind me and get back to the socks. I also want to finish spinning Deep Blue Sea so I can start something else on the wheel. I need to unearth my sewing room. It's currently smothered under a layer of spinning fiber—must stop ordering from Yarn Wench because I'm running out of room! I'm going to try to get my sewing machine in for a tune-up. I have some sewing to do and it would be nice if my machine was nice and clean! I don't know if we'll have time, but I'...

...any progress shots from today would pretty much look like the last ones I took. The only project that shows any significant change is the doggie sweater and it doesn't look like a sweater yet. I'm at a standstill with it until I can try it on the dog. Another reason that things aren't progressing is that I'm feeling frustrated. I really wanted to do the mystery socks the way they were intended and I'm irked at myself for not being able to follow the pattern. I've also been side-tracked by a different kind of project. See if you can guess. No, not Picnik 's cool tools (although they are always fun to play with). Taking even more pictures of flowers? No... Can you say 10 Megapixels? Yup!! Can't wait to try this puppy on fiber! And sky pictures., and the cats, and...

...the Socktoberfest mystery socks are happening as written. After getting two (of 12) pattern repeats done, they just weren't looking like the pictures. I frogged then a couple of times and carefully counted and reknit them...they still looked sucky. I hate when the pattern gets the best of me! I do fine with most sock patterns, but every once in a while, a pattern just doesn't work for me. (Hydrangea socks, anyone?) This was one of them... Aince I love the look of the offset ribbing from clue one, I decided to frog back to the end of the last ribbing repeat and just continue with that until I get to the heel. A least they will have part of the mystery! I had much better luck with spinning. I finished the second bobbin of Deep Blue Sea. It looks like I get third bobbin out of the remaining fiber. It's looking really good: This will become a three ply yarn...I just haven't decided whether I will do a traditional 3-ply or a Navajo-ply. Things are winding down in the bac...

...my work project is done and delivered, so now I can relax a little until my next project starts! It's pretty much consumed all of my energy for the last couple of weeks. Today's Eye Candy is sky (you know I love sky pictures!)... ...and more sky: ...and how about my latest Yarn Wench acquisitions: The colors are fabulous, aren't they? I love her stuff!! I am making slow progress on the TTL Mystery sock [ Ravelry ]. I have finished Clue #1 and am working on Clue #2. I'm doing the simpler version of this sock because I didn't feel like doing cables. Now I'm wondering whether that was the right choice! I have had to frog and redo clue#2 on one sock twice now. I keep coming up short one stitch...ARG! Right now, I have one sock on two circs and one on DPNs while I fix the problem. So here's one; the other looks almost the same! I haven't worked on any other knitting...just not enough energy right now. Up this weekend: Pacific International Quilt Festival...

...in the home stretch of a work project that's due today. I'll be back for Eye Candy Friday tomorrow!

...I did a little knitting, a little spinning, and some fabric shopping. I started spinning the Deep Blue Sea seawool top that I showed you on Friday. I wasn't sure whether start it because it is 8 ounces of top and it might take me a while to finish (most of the top I spin is in 4 ounce bundles). However, the colors won out and I spun one bobbin full: Even though I have a sweater, a wrap, and a doggie sweater already in play, I cast on for the TTL Mystery Socks for Socktoberfest. I'm using the Incredible Shrinking Violet Socks That Rock yarn from the Blue Moon Rockin' Sock Club: I'm doing the simpler (non-cable) version of the mystery sock just so I won't get frustrated...I haven't done cables in a while and I have never really been that good with them. On Saturday, I decided to head off to the fabric store and check out the Halloween fabrics. I probably should have waited a week for Pacific International Quilt festival, but I wanted to see them now . And the...

...well, primroses for Eye Candy Friday. (I used Picnik's new mirrored frame for the picture above.) The Husband is planting new flowers to replace the ones that are dying. The primroses are waiting to be planted. One of the new plants he's added is Sea Lavender: I'd never heard of this one, but I love the color of these tiny flowers. Up this weekend: Sirena is calling my name. The main reason is this Seawool top from Creatively Dyed (purchased from Loopy Ewe ): The color is Deep Blue Sea. Hmmmm...Sirena...sea... I think it's time for some spinning! I'll also continue to knit on my sweater, . I'm making slow progress, but I knew it was going to be a long knit. Since it's Socktober and I'm in Socktoberfest , I'll probably cast on another pair of socks! Have a great weekend!

...quick post, still lots of work! As I mentioned, I resurrected the Dogosaurus sweater. Here's my progress (sorry for the fuzzy picture, but the color is good): On the February Lady Sweater, I reviewed the buttonhole procedure and managed to do the first one: Like my makers? They are plastic ponytail bands—very flexible and easy to work with. I am mentally preparing myself to redo this section if I don't like the way the button holes look together. Since it's my first adult-sized sweater, I want to make sure it looks good! That's it for now...off to work, work, work!!

...presenting Little Monkey Foo Foo socks: Trying them on: Specs: Started 9/20/08 Finished 10/6/08 Socks That Rock Lightweight yarn by Blue Moon Fiber Arts Color: Little Bunny Foo Foo Pattern: Monkey socks by Cookie A; no-purl version Needles: 2.75mm and 3.0mm The color makes me smile and they are very comfy!

...after the rain. It was nice to have some rain, but we needed so much more. I stayed at home on Saturday and did some knitting. Sunday is my normal errand day and I did manage to do a few things around the house, and more knitting. Knitting, however, was my main activity. Monkey socks: Finished the feet and am doing the toe decreases. (Yay!) [ Ravelry ] Dogasaurus sweater for Papi: Restarted this project. I finished the neck ribbing and am working towards the leg openings. [ Ravelry ] February Lady Sweater: Wound the yarn and cast-on! I haven't made a lot of progress yet as I have to remind myself how to do buttonholes. :-) [ Ravelry ] I did not get any spinning done because I realized that the Monkey socks were close and I wanted to finish them up. Maybe I'll spin next weekend... It's going to be another busy week at work. I have a couple of projects due next Monday and I have to haul @$$ to get them done on time!

Our hibiscus plant is blooming just in time for Autumn! This picture wasn't as clear as I'd like, but the reflection in the window was cool. I applied the Panography-ish effect in Picnick to get this image: Not much else going on. I have so much work, I don't know what to work on! I'm mentally wiped out by the time I get home. It's a good thing that my knitting project is socks...I can pretty much do those on auto-pilot! I have finished the decreases and am now working towards the toes. This has been a very enjoyable knit so far...now I know why people think this pattern is addictive! Up this weekend, deciding which projects to do for Christmas. I won't plan too many things at this point so I can have extra time for those add-on projects that always turn up. But, it's time to start teasing Jane with secret projects, so I need to pick something out! I also want to do a little spinning....whether by wheel or by spindle, I don't know yet. Anyway, have a g...

The Recap: Finished: 9/27/08 Vampira yarn [ Ravelry ] Yarn Wench Falkland top (4.3 oz) Spun and plied on Lendrum DT wheel Yield: 302.8 yds Navajo-plied WPI : 17 (average) 9/18 Silk Waves Scarf [ Ravelry ] 9/13 Tulips Baby Cardigan [ Ravelry ] Worked on: Morning Surf Scarf (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Started: 9/15 Sea Foam Wrap (knitting) [ Ravelry ] 9/20 Vampira1 Falkland top from Yarn Wench (spinning) 9/20 No-purl Monkey socks in STR Little Bunny Foo Foo (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Frogged/On Hiatus: Black leg warmers in Caron Simply Soft yarn (knitting): Waiting for cold weather Dogosaurus Rex sweater (knitting) Works In Progress (did not work on): Spinning 4 oz of Angora Cottage 70% Merino and 30% Silk roving in purple [ Ravelry ] Montego Bay wrap in Walking on the Wild Tide yarn, using Montego Bay scarf pattern from Interweave Knits Summer issue (knitting) Spinning 2 Chasing Rainbows rovings together in the Heather colorway: one Merino-Bombyx (2 oz) and one Merino wool (2 oz) Violet ...

...some October sky for you. For WIP-it Wednesday, a look at the Monkey socks. I've turned the heels and am working on the decreases towards the foot. I haven't really worked on anything else, so that's pretty much it. I annoyed Sombra again last night...but she was too cute, hanging out with Teddy on the couch. I'll put the recap in a separate posting. Gotta jet—tons of work to do!