Friday, June 14, 2013

dancing with the wheel...

Since I'm guessing a lot of you don't know how a wheel like the one I got works (I didn't), I found a couple videos on YouTube of people using a walking wheel/great wheel similar to the one I found yesterday. It's like a dance:


And another view:


How very cool. =)

well, just look at that!

Look what happened to make its way into my life...



She needs a little work (and a name), but she's a beauty! I'm told this is from the early 1800s but I haven't done any research. The price was right though and I don't mind adding a little elbow grease to get her back into fighting (spinning) shape. :-)

Sunday, June 02, 2013

slow and steady..

Nothing exciting yet, just lots more stockinette done...


I'm at about 10" right now and I have 3 buttonholes done so far. Getting close to having the body of the sweater done and being able to cast on and knit the sleeves before putting it all together and knitting the yoke. My friend had a BBQ last night and I brought along my sweater to work on. It was nice sitting outside chatting and knitting away. =) I need more of that...

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

unseasonable...

It still needs to be blocked, but my shawl is done!




I even started a new sweater:
Yes, it's almost the end of May and I'm knitting in 100% wool.

There's been entirely too much work in my world since last Fall and not nearly enough knitting. That's going to change! I'm taking back control over my time... expect more knitting! =)

Saturday, May 11, 2013

awwwwww...

My friend took her baby to get pictured taken and used the football outfit I made for him. She took a quick shot of him with her cell so I could see.
SO stinkin' cute!!

I've been working on another shawl:
 
 Yeah, shawls don't usually look like much until you finish and block them. I'm finishing up the garter section and will be starting the leaf border in the teal. I'm adding a few extra rows to the garter stitch section to use up the remainder of the 2nd ball of brown since the border will look fine with partial repeats.

Not much detail yet, but there will be once the border's on. =)

I still have another shawl on the needles, but life has been so busy and knitting time very limited the past couple months, I really wanted something "brainless" to work on. Can't get much more brainless than garter stitch! =)

Sunday, April 21, 2013

for the win!

Why is it when I have the least amount of time to knit... I have the best luck winning free yarn?

Back in Feb/March, podcaster Lauren of the LemKnitCrochet podcast had a fundraiser in an effort to increase awareness and raise money for The Histiocytosis Association in honor of her friend Josh who passed away from Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis.

Bird Leg Bags was offering project bags in two different fabrics based on Josh's drawings with a portion of the cost being donated to Lauren's fundraiser. The purchaser also got an entry into Lauren's prize thread. One of the fabrics was this awesome turtle design:

 

How could I possibly pass that up? So, I caved and bought my very first real knitting project bag. I was playing catch-up recently on podcasts and, surprise! I won a skein of fingering weight yarn!! It's so pretty too! =) (Not the greatest pic, but it's raining here...)

I'm thinking of possibly using it with the skein of yarn I won from The Knit Girllls podcast back in January:
 

I was thinking of using them to knit up Piper's Journey shawl that my friend gave me the pattern for back in January, but it's written for sport weight and I'm not sure I want it this bright. It's a shawl so I could just make a slightly smaller version or maybe adjust it a bit, but I'm not sure I'd have enough yarn... and I do have alpaca in my stash that would be pretty perfect and oh so cozy. I'll have to think about that one. I've also been thinking about a Leftie using the green above for the leaves and something more muted for the rest. I've looked at a lot of the finished projects and those are my favorites. If anyone has any suggestions of other patterns for the variegated pink/purple/reddish skein, I'm open to new ideas! It's got a bit of cashmere in it so no socks or toys. =)

I'm finally getting the baby gifts sent out to my manager who is now officially on maternity leave and due very, very soon.


I found this football Easter basket on clearance and thought it would make a great alternative to a gift bag... and cheaper than a gift bag too! =)

Yesterday, I took some much-needed time away from the computer and went to the Women's Show in Spokane with a couple friends. They were doing some cooking demos during the show and my friend volunteered me for the "tofu" demo. LOL That's me in the middle (yes, my friend snagged my phone from my bag and took a couple pics, lol):



The guy on the left (yes, in the Utilikilt) is "Tofu Phil" of Small Planet Organic Tofu. He also had on knee socks that said "Tofu" down each side. He's committed! =) All I did was chop a bell pepper and then cube a block of tofu, but it was fun and the salad we made was pretty yummy!

And since I was downtown, I checked out a little cafe (Boots Bakery & Lounge) with tons of vegan options, many were even gluten-free as well. =) I bought a couple of items to try later since one of my friends was adamant we not have dinner there. =( The two items I bought weren't amazing and my own recipes are better... and cheaper to make myself. Nice to have the option though and I do intend to give them another try for lunch sometime so I can try the real food there (vs the baked goods I tried). I really need to get moved out to the coast where the options aren't so limited... or such a pain to get to since parking downtown is a bit ridiculous.

Sunday, April 07, 2013

baby kicks

And... baby gift #2 is now complete:
(Ravelry project page for details)

This project also gave me a chance to play with a new toy:

It sure sped up knitting i-cord!
 
Gotta love those 50% off coupons for Jo Ann's! =)