Sign Off

I have entered a new era of my life. As such, I will no longer be blogging. I have really enjoyed being part of the online knitting community and will continue on Ravelry. Thanks to everyone who has been a reader!

"The man who goes out alone can start today, but he who travels with another must wait till that other is ready." --Henry David Thoreau

Thoreau is on to something there.

I am excited by what God has in store for me in the future. With that in mind, I want to share this final video link, which I think is fitting for my blog sign-off. I'm proud of Kylie, rock on, sistah!

I can't resist posting a kitty video :) They are wild things, Fruit Cat and Monkey. (Fruit Cat aka Gibbs eats strawberries out of my hand, and helps himself to any fruit on the countertop)



Having Kitty-kids is great fun, they run to greet me at the door just like my doggie Fizz...a sweet end to the workday!

"People often miss opportunity because it comes dressed in overalls and looks like work." --Thomas Edison

Here is my final blog project, the 'Not A Drop' scarf I finished a couple weeks ago in Yarntini sockyarn called 'Sweet Honeytini:'

Upward and onward in my Christ-directed life.

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing."--Helen Keller



Keep your hands busy,





-:¦:-.•:*¨¨*:•.-:¦:-.•:*¨¨*:•.-:¦:-.•:*¨¨*:•.-:¦:-




"You miss 100 percent of the shots you don't take." --Wayne Gretzky

Good Granny!

Here's a fun link to some cute Granny Squares in 3D! There are videos to make each of them, but they are in German. The good thing is, if you watch what they are doing, you can figure it out.




There are some very unique blocks there. My favorite one is this:




Here is a cool tutorial for a caston and also a bindoff picot edge. Very cool!

Aim's knitting update:

I finished Klaralund about 2 weeks ago. It was a speedy and easy knit! I am very happy with it. In this photo it's unblocked, and I just pulled it on over a baggy t-shirt, but you get the idea, happy sherbet colors!




I started another blanket, based on this one on Ravelry, called the Rambling Rows Afghan. I have a bunch of beautiful variegated bulky wools to use in yummy colors!


Last weekend I got a lot done, in spite of being sick again. I am starting to think all the illnesses and fevers I have been having the past couple of years are due to dental problems. I think I need to have the tooth I had crowned last year pulled. Yikes.

Aim's outdoor update:

Miraculously, our weather here has been mild for so long, I was able to get the front yard raked of leaves, and the window frames painted before the first frost. Woot! Now the back yard's leaves will probably not be down for 2 more weeks. My rosebush in front is blooming away still.

I gathered all my green tomatoes last week, and they have been ripening slowly on my kitchen counter. I also brought in my rosemary potted plant for the winter, and just in time! That very night was our first hard frost. And the next morning the drive to work was amazingly beautiful. Frost on the ground, a thin layer of fog over the fields, and a gorgeous sun-dog in the sky.

I have continued to walk to work, but earlier this week I got extremely chilled when I misread how cold it was going to be on the way home. I had to sleep in a wool sweater with wool socks under a wool blanket with the heat turned up! It is hot apple cider weather now :)

Stay warm,

Aim

Happy Saturday!

I made soap today! A second type of soap that was fun and fast.


These are for gift-giving this Christmas, along with others I made earlier this summer.

I walked my dog in the breezy sunny day, and raked the leaves out of my front yard again.

I put all the light-switch covers back on in the living room which I finished painting 2 days ago. I'm liking the new look very much!

I decluttered some areas of my home today, and also roamed the garden photographing late-blooming flowers. My Carefree Wonder roses are still blooming profusely! I have had roses on that bush as late as Thanksgiving, but this year I have not pruned it, so there are mostly rose-hips. I will pick them this winter I think, since they are high in Vitamin C. I have to find out how to process them....

I didn't get around to painting the outdoor woodwork--hopefully I can do that before this week is over, or it will be too late this year. And, I didn't warp my loom yet; that may be a winter project that has to wait.

Yesterday, I made mini donuts in my mini-donut maker. I'm not usually a big fan of goofy electric kitchen appliances, but this one is pretty fun! I froze some of them. Then, I baked Tirali, an Italian cookie also known as Lemon Knots for you Starbuck's fans. I only iced half of them and took them to church; I froze the other 3-1/2 dozen.

I am gearing up to watch the Chicago Bears whoop the Vikings tonight, with some knitting on my lap and a cocktail of some sort. Just my kind of evening :)

Soon winter will be here, and I don't think it'll be as hard as previous winters on me. At the risk of sounding mysterious, I'm being set free from a lot of psychological baggage, and I look forward to the cold weather.

Summer Fare, continued

I was discussing summer eating in a recent post, and the food fest continues :)

Check out this recipe for Chinese Chicken Salad, it sounds so easy, and there are no weird ingredients:



I might be making that dressing this weekend for a similar version! I really hate iceberg lettuce, but this recipe might make it palatable. I think I hate that lettuce because it was the only lettuce we ever had when I was growing up; I don't think there were other lettuces available at the grocery store back then, but if there were we never bought them. I love lettuce that is green (go figure), so all the wonderful lettuces available in today's stores are like candy to me. Boston Lettuce, Green Leaf or Red Leaf Lettuce, Spring Greens, Frisee, Mesclun, Baby Spinach--all yummy. (Not a big fan of arugula, that bitterness is disgusting). I think my all time favs though are the leaf lettuces I have grown in my garden, called Butter something, Salad Bowl, and Oak Leaf. I LOVE OAK LEAF lettuce, so sweet and fresh and easier than stink to grow. You walk out the door with your scissors and snip off at ground level the amount of leaves you want! So yummy!

I am interested in trying to grow lettuce in my basement this winter, really want to invest in the plant stands that have lights mounted on them, but it is a bit pricey for me currently. Plus, now I have kitties that might like to dig. So this is likely going on the back burner for another few years :)

I found another recipe, this for citrus vinaigrette(scroll down), which sounds like something I want to try on my summer salads--even with chicken.

While on the topic of salad, I had a great salad last night, I put leftover taco meat over tossed mixed lettuces salad, and topped it with taco sauce, shredded cheese, and crumbled taco chips. MMMMM.

Next food topic: cottage cheese! I recently rediscovered that and how yummy and filling it is, delicious with summer fruits!

Aim

Go Cubs!

Okay, y'all have to see my family here, my s'prise nephew is 3 and interviews well, methinks! (at the end of the clip)

Cubs Opening Day Can Bring Unpredictable Weather: MyFoxCHICAGO.com

Yay, Spring is REALLY here! Flower buds, baseball (not that I am a big fan, I admit), sunshine and more sunshine. Ahhhhhh. My camera is calling!

I am in search of this pattern booklet, I believe it was published in Australia....

Anybody have a clue where I can get this? I'd love a copy, and have been on the lookout for several years for it on Ebay without success. If anybody has a copy they'd like to sell me, please let me know!

The hunt goes on (that's half the fun!)

To Start the Year

A stuffed hand-sewn holiday decoration I made 27 years ago!

To start the New Year right, here's a sweet video I just found on UnicornPoo:



I like that. How poetic. Being alone is something I love, and I'm not afraid of it. I hope that both my children have received that gift from us, the ability to be alone and be okay with it. I find I NEED it frequently for peace.

Alone, but not lonely.

Aim

I LOVE THEM

Hee hee, this is what I watched on Thursday morning getting ready for work, it's an edited version as they were waiting on that bridge for a LONG TIME:



I. LOVE. THESE. GUYS. Who wants to watch stuffy old dorks report the news when you can have WGN Morning News in Chicago?! You can watch them across the country too, on cable or satellite....I wouldn't miss this show! This and Bears football are the only things I watch.

WGN News. Keepin' it real.

ha ha ha haaaaa! For medical people!

If you are not a medical worker, you will not get it:



Snicker. OMG. Sadly true.

Spent the last 4 days at conference, racking up the CMEs. Got to hang with old classmate and friend most of the time, catching up. Nice time away from work, but I am certainly ready to be done with the morning commute! Yikes, I don't miss that at all.

I finished a doily last weekend, but it has been a whirlwind October so far, and will continue that way, so photos and the next post will likely be in a couple weeks!
Happy Autumn everyone!

Aim

WhatEvah.Com

Yum!



Lovin' the cheapness of real food! Timeconsuming, yes, but so good for you! And I love to learn ethnic cuisine....

Not much in the way of knitting or crochet going on here. I have been sick this week, and last week I was busy doing yard work. Gotta get it done while the cool weather lasts!

Interesting Podcasts: I have yet to hear one of these Amish Wisdom podcasts, but the author Suzanne Fischer is one of my favs. I read her book "Amish Peace, Simple Wisdom for a Complicated World" and it has made a change in my Christian walk. Fascinating reading about Amish ways and beliefs. I highly recommend it.

I'm loving my new car! I think I am going to rent the movie "The Italian Job," I heard it has a lot of stunt-driving with Mini-Coopers!!! I've never been excited about a car in my life until now!

It's rainy here, so cozy indoor housework is on. Think I will bake some cookies, and make sausage pasta for dinner, with some Chardonnay...I'll save the Indian food for another time!

"R" n Stuff

Recycling. I love to find second uses for things. It's the way life used to be, before our wasteful age of wealth for the common man. And this video is a cool tutorial on crocheting with plastic grocery bags:



Isn't that cool? I love the cutting technique and looping the plastic together--that's a great way to make a continuous cord out of the plastic! It could make good totebags for shopping green, or if you didn't mind the look of it, maybe an entry rug just outside the back door to wipe your feet off before coming in! Don't they call this 'plarn'?

It probably seems random to y'all, these out-of-order ABC posts, but I wanted to share the cool videos and links I had saved in these old drafts. (I just don't have the interest anymore to do the whole alphabet!)

Soon I hope to have another lace FO--I was certainly cranking out more lace in June. I forgot how dang boring Filet Crochet is, but my Doves Doily is nearly finished so I'll share a picture when it's done.

I made an interim linen stitch washcloth, b/c I needed a break from the interminable filet work.

It turned out nice, but the one thing I can't seem to do with any slip-stitch article is MAKE IT LONG ENOUGH! I took it off the needles and suddenly it stretched to twice as wide as high...grrr. Must remember that any mosaic stitch or linen stitch article will stretch hugely width-wise. I still like it, my Sunrise,Sunset washcloth....



I made it in 2 colors of Ty Dy Cotton I had in my stash (631 & 289).

Fun colors, pretty texture, lovely drape, and no open holes~the perfect washcloth!



Here's the details: CO even number of stitches on needles 2 sizes bigger than yarn calls for (I did 50 stitches on sz 9 needles), then start pattern stitch.

Linen stitch Pattern:

K1, SLIP 1 WYIF, repeat across. Turn.
P1, SLIP 1 WYIB, repeat across. Turn.
Repeat these 2 rows across. (I actually slip the first stitch of the row to make a neat edge and pretend it was the first stitch as written; continue across with pattern)

NOTE: I do not like the way the CO edge looks, it's all loose at the edge and looks awful. (Plus I screwed up at the beginning of the pattern!) I'm thinking that BO and CO first row/last row should be done in K1P1 rib to keep it looking neat and snug...I'll have to try that with my next one.


Happy High Summer Knitting and Crocheting!

"L" is for

Love. Have you seen the love in this lion video?! This is truly amazing (best have a box of tissues handy):



Did you cry? I did, and I do every time I watch that thrill of recognition where Christian runs to greet them after years of separation....

I am truly amazed that love can exist in the animal kingdom. We tend to think of animals as somehow lesser species, yet they are capable of so much!

As knitting goes, well, we all know that L is for Lace! And here is a great link to Eunny Jang's tutorial series Woo hoo, I've now broken the lace barrier, and am looking forward to my next project! I still have to pick up the Mananita project and finish it. And NOW I have such a better grasp of lace. Wheeeee!

And speaking of Lace Love, I love this great doily scarf Such a great idea, and a beautiful use for lace that would otherwise moulder in a drawer.

And...if you want to see some glorious and amazing crochet lace clothing, you should go to Antonina K's Flickr account and surf her designs. They are amazing! I am completely in love with this one (photo used with permission):

Whoa. That is some serious lace crochet! I'm floored.

Originally written 1/10/09...hope the linkies still work :)
(I think that is my favorite online video ever)

Some Old Posts

Not a very exciting title, I know, but I have a ton of partially written posts from last 2-3 years. I'm taking the salient parts and distilling them down. So this might seem a bit random....


First, some of you may not yet have seen the cool video of EXTREME KNITTING by Rachel John, so here it is:

(Start it at the 5 minute mark to see the actual knitting)



Makes my size 50 needles look small!!!


Here's the best 'word of the day': omphaloskepsis. Ha ha haaaaaaaaa! Right. (Whodathunk there was a word for that?!)


S is for Seed saving! (Articles about this on that link.) I've never tried any of them to tell you the truth, but I've heard that saving tomato seeds involves rotting the fruit until it falls apart, then rinsing and drying the seeds. Sounds kinda messy, but what the heck? Worth a little dirty work to have the same yummy harvest the next year....

S is for Slipcover: check out this pattern to cover a run-of-the-mill plastic lawn chair! If you go to Ravelry you can see someone who is knitting cabled and lace and striped versions of this. I love it :)


Quilting is a fav pastime I used to indulge in a lot. I found a link to free block-of-the-month sites for people who like to quilt. I no longer do much quilting, but that may change again, who knows?!

And last but most random: BOTTLED WATER COOKING
For some reason, I just remembered all the uses to which I would put a bottle of carbonated water. I always used to keep a bottle of carbonated water on hand. These are some of our favorite recipes:

HOMEMADE SODA: My favorite use for sparkling water, when my kids were little, was to make our own homemade sodas for lunch. We would choose our favorite fruit juice, then mix it in a 2:1 ratio with sparkling water for a yummy fruit soda. No preservatives or colors, etc. Very healthy 'spritzer'.

AIM'S POP-ROCKS POTATOES: Here's a really fun recipe for people with children or grandchildren. This is something I came up with when we were living in a place where we would only drink bottled water. One time, I was making dinner, and realized we were getting low on the drinking water. I did not want to use the drinking water up for cooking if I could avoid it, so instead of regular water in the instant mashed potatoes, I substituted bottled sparkling water I had on hand.

The result was very interesting. My family and I were entertained by the sound of the snap, crackle, pop of the mashed potatoes all throughout dinner! They taste the same, but actually make noise on your plate! My kids and DH were highly amused by this invention :)

I tried making Jello with this sparkling water too, but it didn't make much difference in the end product (I know that they have a version of this recipe on the box nowadays).

What next?

Yellowstone at Mammoth Hot Springs. Click to see how amazing up close!

Swatching lately for a s'prise project. I mentioned the linen yarn I bought (Euroflax sport). It already has incredible drape, and I'm still swatching! I plan on measuring the swatch before and after washing, to plan for any shrinkage. Looking forward to this project, but at times the planning and technicality are annoying. At times that lace chart makes me want to rip my hair out. That's when I need some easy knitting...

Enter the February Lady Sweater. I cast on this morning; I already love this sweater and I'm only on row 14!! The yarn I'm using is a wonderful caramel color purchased at the Midwest Folk and Fiber Festival yesterday.

I was thinking about NOT going to the fest this year, especially as I heard a bunch of people at Knit night grumbling about the first day of the fest. But I realized that they had grumbled about it every year, and I had LOVED it every year so far. I am very glad I went this year, too. Lots of fun vendors, and as much of it for spinners as for knitters. I had to bring home at least one bundle of fiber to spin--it'll be my first time spinning a blend (merino + soy). And best of all, I got to see alpacas in person and up close! I really thought they would be bigger, but are they ever cute!


The crowd is all talking, but if you listen closely, that "crying baby" sound you hear is the alpacas!! The dark one is 10 months old, the lighter is 3 yrs old. They are less than 6 feet tall--funny that they could look me in the eye. My pup woulda loved them.

I also got some pink mohair/silk/merino yarn to knit up a Lacy Kercheif Scarf with. Been eyeballing that pattern, and I was able to score the back issue of IK that the pattern is in at the festival! Woohoo! Lastly, I also purchased this book: Spin Control, by Amy King. This is going to help my spinning a lot! I knew as soon as I saw it that I needed it.

Oh, my final fiber fest memory for 2009--deep fried Twinkies! Yum! (I didn't have enough money left after yarn purchases to buy the BBQ pork sandwich I wanted, so I opted for that fried delicacy.) They even sold deep fried Reese's, Snickers, and pickles (done the pickles before, those rock too! Everything's better deep fried)

Other patterns I'm planning with all the knitterly ADD I can muster, include Baktus with some of my sock yarn stash. I'd love to drape that around my neck in cooler weather....And a pair of Double Diamond Socks. B/c, ya know, I'm such an advanced sock knitter. (ahem!)

I also want to make the Textured Shawl. Don't know when I'll get to that one, but I love how it looks so tailored and warm. Lots of surfing fun on Ravelry lately.

I need to go bake a cherry pie--see ya later!

Smile Today and Then Go Knit!

Yeaaaaaaaah, baby!

I might as well post this pattern. Unless I do it today while it is fresh on my mind, it'll probably be more months before I get around to it!

Okay, don't laugh guys. I'm a beginning designer, and really only an intermediate knitter. My patterns reflect this.

This is my version of Grandmother's Favorite Washcloth. I wanted big picots on mine, so here goes:

CO one stitch.
K one, turn.
KFB, turn.
KFB, KFB, turn.
KFB, K2, KFB. (6 stitches)
K across for 2 rows.
KFB, KFB, YO, K across.
KFB, KFB, YO, K across.
BO the first 2 stitches (using up the first 3 stitches), K1, YO, K across.
BO the first 2 stitches (as above), K1, YO, K across.
Repeat these last 4 rows until the diagonal of piece is the size you want--I knit mine to 50 sts.
Then K2, YO, K across, turn.
Repeat last row.
KFB, KFB and slip the second stitch you made back onto the left-hand needle. Now, K2tog (the one you just slipped with the next one), YO, K2tog, then K across. Turn.
Repeat this row back in the other direction.
BO the first 2 stitches (using 3 stitches total), K1, YO, K2tog, K across. Turn.
Repeat this row.
Repeat the last 4 rows until you have 9 stitches left.
BO2 as nml on picot, then K2tog, YO, K2tog, K across. (6 stitches)
K1, K2tog, K2tog, K1. (4 stitches)
K across.
K1, K2tog, K1. (3 st)
K1, K2tog.
K2 tog.
BO last stitch.


And there you have it! Easy peasy, right? (p.s. please let me know if there are errors in the pattern cuz I'm still new to pattern writing)

I culled this from the stalled alphablogging "Letter K" post that has been sitting unfinished since April 21! But I'm not done with alphablogging, I just need to get my mojo back.

Other news: I baked me a pie. Blueberry, to be exact.

My top crust is homemade-looking, but this thing tasted divine. I make pies a lot, but this was the first time I used my new stoneware for it. It worked great, I didn't have to make a foil "tent" for the crust, it never came close to burning! YAY for less fuss!

I went to the Haeger Pottery Outlet near us several weeks ago--I'd forgotten this place is so close, and it has some really good buys. Since I didn't need any new lamps, vases, or plant pots, I couldn't resist this baking-stone type cookware. (I have a pizza stone we've been using for 10 years, that thing makes the best pizzas on the planet. I love it!)

Next up will be either a cobbler or lasagna in my new casserole dish! Yum.



Happy knitting, and watch the road for those notorious babies on skates!

Happy 4th!

Bitterroot flower on the alpine prairie. These look divine and smell even better!

For those who have not seen Yellowstone and are contemplating a visit, here's one of the best videos I took of formations at Mammoth Hot Springs (p.s. that's the place to stay if you go there!)

Hope you'all don't mind I keep going on about Yellowstone. I've never seen anything so amazing in my life.

I got a haul at the library last night after work, lots of fun knitting books. More ideas and WISTs--my head's gonna bust I want to try so many things. It was an intense work week, and that was a nice end to it; also DH and I walked to our neighborhood restaurant for dinner, then rented the first Transformers movie (I'd never seen it. That rocked!)

We are still having the wierdest weather ever around here. You cannot plan hot-weather meals or cold-weather meals. I had to wear Meinstein to work the first day of July, b/c it had to be 40 degrees in the office. The maintenance guys can't keep up with the weather shifts--last week it was putrid hot and muggy around here. If the weather would just S T A B I L I Z E, for crying out loud....

My new WIST: have you all seen the gorgeous Cathedral Sweater that one of the Rainey Sisters knit recently?! OMG I aspire to knit that pattern. I'll have to get that book. Those Japanese sweaters are the bomb, I totally love them!

Am still plugging away on the knit tee. Kinda losing steam, but I have to finish it. I have way too many WIP and this needs to be done so I can wear it in the warm weather (whenever that comes!)

I'd like to go to knit night tonight, but my dog is deathly afraid of fireworks, so I'll either have to heavily sedate him and make sure someone stays home with him, or stay home myself...I thought about trying to bring him, but don't know if he'd behave in a yarn store. He's a bit bigger than most people are used to, so it's not the best option!

Remembering is Half the Fun

The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, 7:24 PM. A DIY shot, to get some sense of scale (DH was busy with his own camera). Heh. ETA: That's the hat I knit on the flight out.

Butterflies in an alpine meadow, Yellowstone. This hike was a lovely, mid-morning crossing of a meadow alongside a babbling stream. Snow still capped some areas of the hills surrounding the hike. We were very protected in this basin...and there were tons of wildflowers to photograph.

Anybody know the identity of this flower? Is it a fritillary? I've never seen anything like it before! ETA: I've since found out it's called Prairie Smoke, Geum genus.

Make sure to turn your sound way up for this:



The silence is deafening. That was the culmination of the above-mentioned hike, one of many we made in the park. The ending was like dessert, a peaceful alpine lake complete with lily pads. Those were the first bugs we saw on the whole trip!

Some knitting links to keep my focus ;0)
Butterfly vintage doily to crochet.
A vintage potholder (very cute)
Kaleidoscope Hot pads (these look cool)
True vintage potholder! I've never tried this crochet technique, looks interesting.
Sarah London's Wooleater Blanket, gorgeous.
And her Hawaiian Flowers blankie. Awesome in her colors.

Happy Knit & Crochet everyone.

Sunny Sunday

See the hidden birdie legs?!

Here's a neat video for making Indian bread (rotis):



Isn't that cool? She makes it look so easy, I feel like I could just whip up some of those after watching her! I've made chapatis before but over a flame, and they were really floury. I like how these puff up so easily. I love Indian food, yummy! I was directed to this video via the Jugalbandi blog, one of my favs. I like Bee's sharp humor. And, it's vegetarian! Yum.

I'm not a strict vegetarian. But I love blogs that teach me better ways of eating.

How about a pattern to use the bigstitch needles?

Aim's Rug:

I decided yesterday to wing it, and started pulling out stash and throwing it all together for a rug. In about 4 hours (which includes picking out the yarns, doing a test-run for several rows that I ended up frogging, and restarting with the correct number of stitches) I had a nice cushy rug for my bathroom. It measures about 38x 25 inches, give or take an inch in either direction for stretchiness! Cuz I'm not blocking this sucka...

Cast on 24 stitches.
Slipping the first stitch of each round, K across in garter stitch, until the length desired. I used anywhere from 4-6 strands of yarn at any given time, adding in and taking out whenever the urge struck.

Mostly I wanted to use up my "Landscapes" acrylic/wool that I frogged my Martha poncho from. I used up 6 balls of that yarn, and also added in skeins of other acrylics. Here's the list of yarn I used:

1. 6 balls Lion Brand Landscapes in "Pastel Meadow" colorway


2. 1 skein of Lion Brand Chenille Thick & Quick Prints in "Rainbow Denim Print"


3. 2 skeins (2.5 oz each) of Red Heart Super Saver Multicolor in "Candy" colorway


4. 1/2 skein Hobby Lobby I Love This Yarn in "Pink Camo Ombre"


5. 1/2 skein Caron SS in "Baby Brights Ombre", and some "Soft Pink", "Off White", and "Lt Country Peach"


6. some Lion Brand Suede in Black

And some pics of all the different yarns used




They don't look like they'd go together, do they?! I'm really happy with the outcome.

I LOVE THESE NEEDLES!!!! You have to adjust how you knit with them, (in addition, I bought the 28" needles so they'd be long enough for blankets and such, but you have to sit in the middle of the sofa so the ends of the needles have a place to rest!) Hey, once you get it, you knit things up so fast it's incredible!!! I feel great, I just used up a bunch of stash, probably a total of about 11 skeins. Wahoooooooo! In 4 hours. Yeah!

I'd like to see other people's versions of this, I'm constantly searching on Ravelry for more inspsiration. I just joined the Big Stitch Knitting group, and hope to be inspired there! (And, for Mother's day I just ordered the size U crochet hook and the size 50 DPNs from Bagsmith, along with their books. Can't wait!) They are having a sale for Ravelry members with a %15 off by May 11--you should go check it out (coupon number is listed in the Big Stitch Knitting Group page).

I'm such an enabler....
;)

Knit on, you happy peeps!


P.S. this is edited to add two things:
1) I used size 50 needles for the rug.
2) The recipe for the Rotis is 1 c flour, 1 pinch salt, 1/2 c water; then later a trace of the oil as she shows in the video...I just made these and they were yummy!!! And fairly easy, too.

"F" is for

Sun-dog. Just kiddin'. But isn't it cool?

F is for Fiber farmers!!! I can dream this, and live vicariously through others online....Watch this:



F is for Fabric! Woo hoooooo, the fabric. I am loving all the fabric designer's blogs I'm finding lately. I have a beautiful varied stash of fabrics of my own, but am always lusting after more, like a good quilter =D

Look at the beautiful fabrics Lila Tueller posted. Are they not stunning?! Drool.

I dream of designing my own fabric for a short run print at Spoonflower...what a cool thing!

Flowers are one of my favorite things in all the world. If there are flowers growing, they will find their way into vases in my house. I'm happiest when I can pick a handful of violets from our lawn to put on a windowsill in a tiny bottle. Flowers are reminiscent of all things good! Picnics, weddings, childhood, summer, sunshine....

Cutest sewing project: fabric flower bowls. How sweet those are! Don't know what I'd use them for, but they sure are cute :) Maybe I could take one to work and keep paper clips in it....(After this post, it's gonna seem a long time until spring)

F is for Free patterns. Specifically this free heart dishcloth pattern looks really cute, would be great to knit for Valentine's Day!

F is for Fairisle. This knitting style is full of color possibilities. I love the thought of charting my name, or some great saying and then knitting it up into a work of art that's personalized!

And speaking of which, look what someone did with Kate Gilbert's Bird in Hand pattern---adapted it to a hat! This is fair-isle at its cutest!!!

F is for felting, another technique I'd love to do more of. I'm thinking a felted blanket--wouldn't that be the bomb?! Nice and thick....

F is for fishies. Look at the great colors in this version of the fish blankie! Makes me want to get some of that Dream in Color yarn. Yes, I need more yarn, mm hmm. (And peripherally related to fishies, is this beautiful blanket made from dishcloth patterns!)

F is for Friday night knitting! Man do I love getting together with knit-friends. It is really nice at the end of a loooooooong work week. Thanks, Molly, for hosting us in your shop every week!

So, are y'all enjoying the ABCs? It's interesting to have an "assignment" to follow, and challenging to my blah-boring writing style to put something together cohesively....enjoy your F's!

"E" is for

Estonian Lace. Oh my. Have you seen this new book? I might have to get this, as I am wild about the lily-of-the-valley lace pattern. This book has that pattern knit in every possible permutation. (I guess it's called 'nupps') It takes my breath away. I looked, but our library doesn't have it. That's okay, my LYS has it, and I looked through it Friday at knit night. Whew.


Estonian knitting sure seems to be an amazing wealth of perfected techniques! Their well-documented culture of knitting has given so much to us. I am experiencing the knit-in braid on the Bird in Hand mittens, and it's kinda neat to see how that's formed. Though I'd like it better in a looser gauge I'm sure. Just sayin'....

I'd love to investigate the other Estonian knit techniques.

E is for "energized singles." Don't you love that phrase? I want to open a martini bar with that name!!!

I got up this AM(Jan 25) at 1:15 when DH came to bed, and since I'd already slept 5 hours, I started spinning. Go figure. This was the night to do it, after a 4-6 month hiatus!

I picked up again spinning this lovely Merino 4 oz top,

and finished it up.


Then I plied it.

My lumpy crazy yarn will be a collector's item someday, I'm sure, as it is AWFUL! So irregular--I better get practicing. Once every 6 months is no way to better your technique :)

Anyway, it was fun, and I am looking forward to knitting this stuff up someday, into something warm and soft.

Maybe a hat. How far will 4 oz go in this DK-to-bulky thick/thin yarn...? My guess on the yardage after spinning--about 80 yards.

This is not something I've done before, so I'm not sure if that's accurate. But I just measured: one trip around my niddy-noddy, when wrapped correctly, yields 2 yards.

My finished yarn totalled 55 trips around the niddy-noddy, which at 2 yards each, ought to give me some 110 yds total. But the yarn was really stretched out on the niddy-noddy; once off that tool, it sprang back quite a bit. So I'm guessing my yarn to be 1-1/2 yards each trip around instead...~80 yds.

Hopefully enough for one hat :)


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Speaking of doggies....

Consider this post added to the last one...this is an amazing video of a dancing dog!



I love that dogs are so amazing, and able to be trained to do such a thing. Wow.
And, doesn't this look like Chandi is completely in adoration of her trainer?! Their story can be found here on the sidebar.