Have you ever heard of LetsKnit2gether? It's a really neat and well done knitting video podcast done by Cat and Eric.
They are raising support for a better computer to run their show - check out the widget on my side bar. Check out their site as well www.letsknit2gether.com The shows are super helpful if you are a visually minded person.
I also enjoy their field trips to the fiber shows - it makes you feel that you are part of the crowd and wish that you could buy yarn right through your computer screen.
So how did the LYS fast go, you ask. Well, I did it!!!!
Mission accomplished. Stash shrinking, albeit, slowly--kinda like molasses, but it is going!
Okay, well I have one confession--I went to a lys on May 29---you see, I had to it was closing on the 30th and everything in the store was 25%-40% off. I bought more Cascade 220, Nature Spun wool, and baby alpaca. So other than that one little indiscretion--I accomplished the LYS Fast of 2008.
Yeah I forgot my password, got busy with other stuff, kept on knitting, and finally took the time to come and blog some more.
In the past month, I have learned how to knit socks!!! Now, that may seem like a boring - so what - kind of thing to you, but for me---wow, I have always wanted to have the skill to knit socks. I often wondered if when I learned would I still like the idea of being able to knit them - I mean, would the concept get old, boring, blah...that kind of thing. Well, no I don't think I could ever get bored of socks. Big, little (which I am gathering tons of experience on), long, short, simple, difficult, classy, funny, slippers, you name it...I want to try it.
I've done nearly a dozen pairs baby socks--an excellent way to use up bits of stash-- and a pair of slipper socks for me in Nature's Spun wool. They are sooooo comfortable.
I went to pick my mom up at the train station a couple of weeks ago and while I was waiting outside the depot, I took out my knitting (was working on the second coral colored sock) to pass the time. I was kind of wondering if some of the people milling around were going to ask me what I was doing - cuz I was being stared at quite a bit. Well much to my surprise, the station master (man) came up and asked a whole bunch of questions about "what in the world is that?" We chatted for a bit, until the train pulled in and he went to work.
I really enjoyed sharing what I was doing and answering his questions. A fun day---although I was knitting wool and it was 101 degrees, and yes my fingers occasionally got sweaty on the needles! haha
So I started knitting the Baby Albert coat (which by the way I have renamed the Prince Albert in a coat - get it? Prince Albert in a can. Gosh is it obvious that I am into antiques to know something like that from 1888, and British no less) by Sally Melville. It is going great...except for the fact that I appear to be allergic to the yarn that I have chosen. Yes, I am recycling yarn from a sweater that I bought really cheap and it turns out that I should not have recycled it but left it hanging on the rack in the store!
Who knew that I was allergic to angora?! Definately not me. After knitting with the yarn for about 10 minutes, I get shortness of breath, itchy hands and my nose runs. I'm going to attempt to finish the sweater - of course, it will take me longer to do so - since I can only knit it in short bursts.
Speaking of the yarn - I will have to go now and move it to a different room so that I can go to sleep, cuz apparently it's still giving off its allergic vibes in my direction!
My first project for the stashbusting experience was Vestee from Knitty. I used some of my Cascade 220 (blue and green apple) wool and surprisingly it used less yarn than I thought it would so I am using the leftover yarn and knitting a small clutch which I will felt. But sheesh...it seems I will still have those colors left after the second project, maybe I'll get a hat or baby slippers out of it as well!
Yes, that's right...because of previous spending issues (mostly in the yarn department) I have (or rather had to) declare the month of May as LYS fasting time.
So from now 'til the end of May I will not step foot in a LYS with cash, check, or credit card on my person. I couldn't cut the cord completely and just not go in, cuz let's face it I still need time to drool and get good ideas from all the wonderfulness of the LYS.
Looking on the good side...I will be able to stashbust a bit and save money for June 1, when I go running into the first LYS I see.
How true, how true...'nuf said.
I can't believe it's almost May!!! Seems like I just left my last Christmas party! Sheesh, time flies when you are knitting.
I just finished the Strawberry Hill Jacket...boy did that take awhile. Normally a child's sweater will take me about a week to knit but this one took over 2 weeks. It was alot more detail work and seaming than I bargained for. The pattern had a few glitches in the writing and I had to check and recheck the work as I was going along. I modified bits here and there, trying to get the outcome that I was okay with. Overall, it looks great, but I know all the time, effort and sweat labor that went into it!
After the "neverending jacket" I have decided to knit some brainless patterns for a while to give my little grey cells a chance to recouperate.
Good news: I don't have carpal tunnel. whoo-hoo!!!
The April blizzard is here...40 mph winds, 4 feet of snow and counting! Today is the perfect day to stay in my pj's, drink hot chocolate, and knit, knit, knit!!!
So far I have finished a hat for my sister's b-day - all except the button which I still need to buy and that is impossible today because the entire area is shut down because of the weather.
I will also be working on the yoked angel top, sleeveless sweater, and I'm sure I'll find something else to start as well. I am soooo glad that I stopped to buy more knitting needles and yarn yesterday (like I am so yarn deprived in the first place, hahaha). I will attach pics as soon as things are finished, or you can find me on Ravelry as purlingalong.
Today I really felt like taking a drive through the country...a slow Sunday drive, what could be better. I basically just meandered around on various back roads looking for lighthouses and gazing at awesome lake side scenery. Then, in the blink of an eye, I bagged a partridge...with my car. Yep, right in the hood. Well that was odd - he came out of nowhere and apparently decided to play 'frogger' with me, flying low and not fast enough. So, okay that's one wild animal in the road. No big deal, until I decided there must be a conspiracy in the air today. I had to stop, swerve and slow down for five more animals along the way. Let's see - after the partridge, a deer booked it across the highway immediately in front of my car, a flock of wild turkeys stopped in the middle of the road and we stared at one another for a while, a skunk ambled across the road (definately not running over that!), four more deer walked out in front of me and we stared at each other for a bit too, a raccoon (I'm convinced it was drunk!) meandered in circles falling down in the middle of my lane!!! Then turning on to the road right before my house, a dog (not to be out done by all the other animals) walked slowly in front of my car. What is the deal??!! Not that I'm frustrated, after the first 3 incidents I began to wonder what other animals I would see and well I did get to see a hawk and a bald eagle! So today on my Sunday drive I came really close to communing with nature. All in all - a neat experience and boy do I have stories now. Here are pics of the turkey and deer...
