Progress Is Good

I've been making progress on some of my knitting. My sampler for the Sweater Sampler class at Enchanted Yarn & Fiber is moving right along. I cannot recommend this class/project enough. I'm not Sweater Woman by any means, but the whole process of putting a sweater pattern together from scratch doesn't seem quite so daunting. I love how the simple changes of color/stitches adds such a decorative pattern.

I finished the Feathers & Fan, or whatever, it is so beautiful. I love it. It may end up under some one's Christmas tree, I'm not sure yet.

I'm working on a faux moebius (mo-bee-us). Faux because it is actually being knit flat and then I will do the twisty thing and seam it up. I love this yarn, Peace Fleece in Grassroots colorway. It should go with lots of things. I got the stitch pattern out of a stitch dictionary(?).



I went to the Yarn Tasting Party at Enchanted this past Sunday. I got there late but it was such fun. We got 13 little balls of 13 different yarns to try out. What fun!!!! While there I bought some yarn for some special projects I have coming up. One being a baby sweater set for an upcoming baby (not mine). I so love this yarn. It is Jojoland Rhythm. It gets softer as you work with it and the changes in color are so subtle and beautiful. I got the pattern here.

I'm heading to the Enchanted land for another class. Updates to follow.

Getting The Story Straight

Okay, this is the deal. You know.............the rest of the story, the whole enchilada, the truf.

I've been in a knitting funk. Oh, I've continued knitting. I've lost count of new projects OTN. But, I've been feeling kinda lousy about my knitting. As you know, I am a loose knitter. And besides that, I am a impatient loose knitter, which is worse.

It is bad enough to be a loose knitter but, when you add in the impatience you are heading for failure. Why? Well, I really hate gauge swatches...............HATE 'EM!!!!!! For one thing, I hate taking the time to mess with them and secondly, I don't trust 'em. They are filthy little liars. But you know, I think it is time to wake up and smell the wool. I gotta realize these little gauge swatches are really my friends and if I will take the time to converse with them my life will be much, much simpler and happier to boot. Right?

Anyways, yesterday at the Sweater Sampler Class I was whining about my knitting and how I felt that I was a lousy knitter when sweet, dear RoLynn chimed in and said "You are not a lousy knitter. You are just small minded right now." Of course, I can't miss an opportunity for silliness so I pretty much milked that statement for all it was worth. I even told 'em that they had better be glad that that flight attendant hadn't won that case against that pastor's wife or I'd be suing for emotional damages. I did have some issues, I won't go into, in the bathroom last night...................but I think it was the Hardees.

RoLynn explained that what she meant by me being "small minded" was that I've been attacking large items for a long time. Things like shawls, that freakin tomten, etc. And right now I'm in a making small things frame of mind. Sounds logical. Right?

As for the grumpy part ................well............... it wasn't real grumpiness, it was acting silly grumpiness. So, yeah, I was grumpy too. Soooooooooooooooooo bite me!!!! :)

She Shall Be Called ------- Cosette

I've been wanting a new baby, the four legged, furry, barking kind. Sad to say, but once I start talking about getting a new baby my family knows it is just a matter of time before Sara and I hop in the car on a mission. Well, yesterday we went out "just to look" at puppies and came home with this:




















Isn't that the sweetest little face you ever saw? She is a Shih Tzu, born June 27th and weight a whopping 3 lbs. She is perfect. I took her to see our favorite vet, Dr. Wisdom, this morning for her puppy check. He is the greatest!!!!! (Emma Belle thinks so too!!!)









I went to the second Sweater Sampler class at Enchanted today and took Cosey with me. She was so good and primarily sat on my lap all during the class. She did take a liking to my yarn and Knit Picks Harmony Needles. The girls got class!!!!!

The class is great. Such a fun, fun group. Except for the fact I was told I am "small minded" and "grumpy." Hmmmmmmmmmmmmph!!!! Well, to be quite honest, that isn't the full story, but it is part of it. :)

Just remember, don't make any judgements until you've heard the ENTIRE story!!!! :)

Lettuce Sea

Well, let's see, let's see..................................I've been so busy the only way I can keep up with what to post is looking at the pictures I've been taking. I really gotta start posting more often again, I know there are things slipping through the cracks over here.

So, hmmmmmmmmm, where to start. Welp, I got a Woolee Winder for my Sonata. This little baby is worth every penny believe me. There is a slight learning curve in using it. This past Tuesday I went out to Enchanted for a spinner's meeting. It was soooooooo cool. There were about six or so of us all sitting under the gazebo by the butterfly garden spinning our little hearts out. More like spinning our little toes off. Practically all of us, if not all, spin barefoot. Oh, gosh, that gives me an idea for our guild name.............The Barefoot Spinners. Anyways, before I left for the group I posted a question on the Kromski Owners group on Ravelry stating I was having a bit of an issue and someone asked if I had put a little drop of oil on the little spring thingy. I did this and low and behold it was much easier. Then once I got to the spinning group I was talking to the co-owner of Enchanted, RoLynn, and she agreed that for some reason my bobbin sometimes slips back and becomes disengaged from the flyer part of the Woolee Winder. RoLynn is so helpful, before I knew it she was off in her workshop finding two little washers that were just the right size. I turned around and she had already placed them on the flyer thingy...........problem solved. She is like that. I think she may be a genius!!!!!!! And a pretty one at that. So, here is my new Woolee Winder toy. I'm spinning some gorgeous alpaca/merino roving I received in a swap last year.









I also started a class out there that meets after the spinning group. It is a class based on The Sweater Workshop by Jacqueline Fee. We are knitting the Sweater Sampler. In knitting this funny little item you end up taking in every concept used in knitting a sweater. Once I've completed this class I'll be known as Sweater Woman. Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, to stop speeding bullets, nothing will be able to stop me for I will be Sweater Woman. And if it don't work out.....................I'll just stuff the mangled results in the wool room with that stupid tomten!!!!!! I am enjoying the class so far. Here is my completed homework:












Remember the yarn I dyed a month or so ago? Wow, it turned out so pretty. I'm making a scarf using the Fan & Feathers pattern (Feathers & Fan?). I am so pleased with it.









And then finally. A precious friend of mine, Sandy, and her husband, The Attorney, gave me a delightful gift in lieu of sending flowers when my father recently passed away. Sandy knowing my obsession with knitting went to one of our LYS's, Crafty Hands, and purchased the pictured items for me. Isn't that sweet????? It is some of that Flat Feet yarn, some itty bitty circular needles and a precious little Lantern Moon sticky pad holder.

I'm going to try to post more often, I know I'm leaving out lots of stuff.

Dreamy

Heidi from Norway and I met sometime last year on a spinning list. We developed a friendship and over the last year or so and have shipped various knitting related items to one another that either could not find in our native country. We used to chat quite a bit on Messenger Live but for the last six months or so I haven't been on that much.

Heidi recently contacted me requesting my mailing address stating that she had made something for Emma Belle. A couple of weeks ago I received a package from Norway that contained a nicely wrapped present for Emma. I waited for her to come back for a visit to have her open it. Here is a picture of my Emma Belle with an adorable hat that Heidi made for her. People are so nice to me, I find it astounding. I believe that she spun this yarn as well. All of Heidi's work is gorgeous and she now has her own web store. I love this picture, I entitled it dreamy. :)

I am so tired and everywhere I look all I see are messes. Allergy season for me is in high gear. It isn't that I have bad allergies but I do find the need to take some over the counter meds that make me even tireder. Now, if you wanted me to go to a yarn store or knit or spin I would probably perk right up so it isn't all that bad. I have soooooooo much stuff all over my house. Some of it is my knitting/spinning stuff and some of it is stuff I've brought home from daddy's and some of it is just stuff. Eventually, I hope, I'll get the "getting stuff put away and in order" bug. But in the mean time it seems I'm kinda keeping my head above water. I haven't seen the health department house condemning van in my drive so I suppose I'm good to go for a bit.

Butterflys, Cows & Babies

I don't know what is wrong with me...............too much on my mind I suppose. Another happy thing we did a couple weeks ago was we went to Lost River Cave's Civil War Days here in Bowling Green. There are some walking trails that are quite beautiful and a butterfly house that is pretty cool. We didn't get to go on a cave tour because they were all sold out. I tell ya, that cool cave would have been a huge relief as it was extremely hot, hot, hot. Here are some pictures from that trip. The one of the cow was taken by Emma Belle, that is a Civil War cow. :)



















On another happy note, I got a new baby this week. A Kromski Sonata. He is such a joy to spin on, I'm loving it. Now that I have a portable/traveling wheel I can take part in the spinning group just starting up at Enchanted Yarn & Fiber next week. I can hardly wait. I've also ordered a WooleeWinder and some extra bobbins. That will make spinning even easier since I won't have to be stopping to change hooks ever so often. Presently I'm spinning some alpaca/merino blend roving I received in a swap last year. It is turning out quite nice. I cannot wait to get it all spun up so I can ply it.