Stalking the BMFA Web site!

Is it wrong of me to be running over to the Blue Moon Fiber Arts site just to see if there may be some new colorway I missed?! Or perhaps one that I didn't realize I'm in love with and may need to add to my list?! Truly a sickness this love of all things BMFA!

Speaking of which, I'm loving this "Guppy" colorway! I'm sure I've missed more colorways that I "need", but I'm also trying to behave myself with the spending. I need to save up my BMFA purchase allowance for my 3 skeins of heavyweight STR in Brick for a February Lady...and a skein of Luscious Silk for the Giselle... and I'm sure there are others I need-like a sweater's worth of Jubilation or Beached! But for now I will continue to look and not buy and hope that I can hold out through Sock Summit!

My Shur' tugals in Lightweight STR Guppy! Not for me, but I am loving knitting it up!

My sister will get these.

I'm such a conflicted knitter! On one hand, I absolutely see the benefits of focusing on a few projects and actually getting them done! But right now, most of my focus is on 'deadline' knitting which translates to gifts, futher translating to 'not for me'.

These were spontaeously knit for a friend's friend's baby.

Now you know I don't just knit socks for ANYONE! But...apparently I do when inspired!

And even a complete set to gift at this past Saturday's shower! After knitting Baby Mine, I even had enough yarn left to make matching Saartje Booties! These were from a mill end I got at Stitches West in the Dutch Canyon colorway! LOVE the colors and my cousin favors greens over pinks and lavendars, so this was a good way to fuse the typical girly color spectrum with her favored green!


OK, so the Queen of Beads are for me, but they are socks and I sooooo want to get moving on my Giselle that has been hibernating by default. And meanwhile, even some gifts without deadlines (read: understanding friends who are willing to wait...) get put aside on hold. And yes, I still committed to making 2 squares for the Barnraising Quilts for Doctors Without Borders which is being coordinated to be unveiled and raffled/auctioned at the upcoming Sock Summit. I have until June 9 to get the squares in. So for now, Giselle is put aside but not forgotten...

So all is well with knitting progress considering the amount I time I am able to devote to it between the PTA, PPS (Parents for Public Schools) and regular school events... I guess it is the same old frustration-so many projects, so little time!!!

Fer REAL-it's the STR Haul!

It's true! I bought more than I said I would! And yet, I missed out on buying some more 'thoughtful' or well thought out STR purchases. But that's what happens when you don't have the sense to get to SW early and figure out and tally-up and be thoughtful about your purchase! You just (at least I just) kinda did a love, grab and go approach! So I promised I'd destash some of my other lovely sock yarns-just haven't had a chance to go through and pick which ones, yet!



So for some reason (well, my lack of sophistication in navigating computer language in relation to this blog for one...), I cannot get these pictures I uploaded to go where I need them to. So...I will just have to deal with them as they appear...Sorry about that!

So, first up: further evidence that I am an undisciplined Knitter. Yes, I finally cast-on for Giselle! I couldn't wait even though I need to: finish many UFO's (eh, who waits to finish them ALL anyway!), cast-on for the second mitten for my cousin's daughter, cast-on for a baby sweater for a June arrival, work on camp homework, get serious and finish my second Count Cluckula Leyburn, finish a pair of fingerless mitts promised to a friend a year ago, finish my second Queen of Beads, start the new KAL with my Guppy yarn!-that's just the immediate things I should do instead...

But no, instead I started Giselle...




I'm doing the full-length, crocheted trim version. Now that I am aware of BMFA's "Luscious", I will pick a cool color to use for the crocheted portion. Right now I'm thinking: Valkyrie (to match), Shadow or Winter Solstice (which I am hoping would translate to a pretty silvery color in the Luscious). Input? Opines? I'm open to hear them all! I don't have to worry about it for a long while, so I have time to think on it.

And here is one of my Med. Wt. mill ends...I will be knitting "Baby Mine" with this skein and am anxious to see how it knits up! (Yeah, the pattern was also a SW purchase...)

And here are the three full-priced skeins I got: Manly Yes, But I Like it Too! (med. weight for Sassy Man ankle socks); Sam 'n' Ella (med. weight for socks for ME! when I read it is like Lunasea, I HAD to have it!); Guppy (lightweight for socks for my sis)...

And finally, what you have all been waiting for-all Mill Ends: Heavy Weight in the rear left in "Tree Hugger"-ish and "Carbon Dating"-ish colorways...("ish" because remember, the skeins are not exactly 'right'!). Then there were a few Medium weights in semi-solids that I thought would be lovely for Baby Yours and some other future project and some lightweights that appear quite HobGoblin-ish, Jubilation-y, Alley-oops-y and just others that were just plain pretty, rooster-y and too hard to pass up!

And FINALLY...

A very big THANKS to Hulaknitter who sent me this!...

It is a dark brown/tan dkKnits sock yarn I won on her blog! To assist with the Aussie Red Cross fundraising for the bush fire victims, HulaKnitter offered up some of her own stash as drawing prizes. For every $10ASD donated, you got a chance at winning some of her yarn! I've not used this yarn before, so it will be fun to check out! Kudos to HulaKnitter for encouraging knitters to give to such a great cause!

A New KAL begins...

And somehow I missed that this new KAL had started sign-ups! Time goes at a much different pace on Ravelry...The verdict is in and we are knitting Alice Yu's Shur'tagal pattern over at the Socks that Rawk Rav group. Sign-ups were hot and heavy, but I think I'm safe with the "Guppy" colorway pick I made. I checked through the posts as best I could and it looks like it is open. So 'Guppy' it is-and believe it or not, I'm not knitting them for me. These will be for my sister!

OH! You haven't seen my skein of Guppy?! My, I must not have posted those SW BMFA STR pics yet!

Remnants...

So Cupcakefaerie said that in my last post, I was like the "Miss Marianne... of Knitting"!-lol! Hmmmm...I guess it was kinda like "Romper Room"! Actually, I felt more like I was being Dorothy waking up from being in the land of Oz, "And you were there, and you were there..."!

But, like Miss Mary Ann who would never seem to see *me*, I don't want to be like her and not name my work knitting buddies and have them feel left out!-lol! So, pardon me for a second:

"Romper, bomper, stomper, boo.
Tell me, tell me, tell me do.
Magic mirror, tell me today.
Did all my friends have fun at play?"

...I see Calafia, Neri and Yarnkabobs, cuz they were there, too!

And why not share a bit of yarny goodness while I'm at it?...How about some Stitches West acquisitions...?

PurlescenceYarns had an after-SW "Show off your purchases" gathering at their shop on Saturday; I got the lovely shawl pattern shown in the background of this photo. The large skein is a laceweight merino/silk from A Verb for Keeping Warm. Below is the bit of spun and plyed G-Rocks and on the needles is my second Count Cluckula Leyburn! Yes, I'm still working on them!

As I posted last time, I stopped by Miss Babs. I couldn't resist this pattern and these mini-skeins to use to make my new baby-cousin-in-process a hat. She is due to arrive in June!

Addictive, this G-Rocks colorway is! I started a second spindle-full!

And just finished plying it this afternoon!

So far, I'm sure the purchases look fairly harmless, huh? Well, they would've been but I for my big BMFA purchase at the end! A few other Miss Babs made it home with me, too, along with miscellaneous accessories-mostly shawl clasps/pins. Yeah, I'm bad. Very bad...

A New Year

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

2009 has begun and, as always, I never make resolutions. But in a way, an incidental resolution occurred since I was at a local "beauty" store yesterday, taking advantage of their 25% off coupon that expired yesterday. I ended up with a bag full of face products so I resolved that I would do my best to follow my aestheticians recommendations and USE this stuff DAILY, as prescribed!-lol! I'm really feeling my age cuz I have now moved up to serums for "aging skin", whiteners and other such treatments! Suffice to say I spent waaaay more than I intended-but saved a goodly amount! So what I saved in yarn, I spent in face product! But, as we used to say when I sold Mary Kay, 'good looks begin with good skin' ...or something along those lines!

Though my gift knitting continues, I started on the Leyburn STR KAL because I could no longer resist the gorgeous skein of Seal Rock that was calling out to me! If you want in on this, pop over to the Rav Socks That Rawk! group! The thread is stickied to the top, so you can't miss it! The Socks that Rawk group is a great group and I tend to prefer it over the "Rockin' Sock Club" group someone started over at Rav. It may be just cuz Nartian, Irish Girlie and I are all on the Socks that Rawk group more than the other. Or maybe cuz TurtleGirl is such an awesome Mod that we love! Anyways, there is no deadline to join the KAL and what is fun is we are all knitting the pattern using different colorways of STR! (YAY, STR!!!)



OH...and the cowl I started for my bro's gf is done! I named it "Southwestern Flair". I picked this CP yarn called "Kaya" because it looked like a yarn she'd like (she likes red); since it stripes, I thought the texture looked kinda southwestern (and she is from Albequerque), so I went with it! Her style is kinda mod and the reds she tends to go for are more true tomatoe red, so I hope she likes this anyway!-lol!

If anyone cares, I will write up this pattern and post later. Easy peasy but I would have probably made it a bit smaller than it ended up.

I hope that 2009 has started off well for all of you! I think that with the completion of one project yesterday and only starting the Leyburns, I am doing pretty well. And I'll be working on the dark age spots!-lol! ;)

And I neglected to mention...

I was just over at ChickenKnits and read about what she's been up to. Surprisingly, no yarn pr0n! What's up with that?!

But there were lots of cookies shown from her recent SnB Cookie Exchange. And her new haircut. And this meme that I thought I'd copy (yes, it had been a while since I'd had a chance to buzz by her blog...):

Things I've Done (In Bold)

1. Started my own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii (I even got to live there for a bit, since I attended summer school one session!)
5. Watched a meteor shower (I think...sad, I know..)
6. Given more than I can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain (not any kind of big one...)
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sung a solo (see 41)
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched lightning at sea
14. Taught myself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning (knocked on wood with that one!)
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown my own vegetables (Sadly, no. Even though my grandfather farmed fruit!)
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitchhiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill ("I call them mental health days!"-I agree with ChickenKnits on this one; not physically ill, but needing to not be at work!)
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run (in case you haven't figured this out, I am NOT athletic. At all.)
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of my ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught myself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had my portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business (many time over with direct-sales: "Creative Circle" stitchery kits, Mary Kay...-and failed! )
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen (nope! but I used to deliver and help in the kitchen and Project Open Hands)
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had my picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life (maybe...)
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous (Pat Morita-you know-"Arnold" from Happy Days-grew up in the area where my grandfather farmed; all Asians out there knew each other! He was "Nori" to them back in the day...)
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a lawsuit (Does the PTA being sued count?-lol)
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Rode an elephant
So it appears that ChickenKnits says she needs to 'travel more'. I need to hit the important landmarks of my own country, I'd say! And I'm very East Coast illiterate!

So I neglected to mention that my quilt group had our big holiday party last week. I'll have to share what I got from my Secret Santa later on. But I had shared with ChickenKnits that fact that there is this wonderful turtle bar recipe one of the ladies in my quilt group makes. Funny thing is: out of the six of us who have attempted making these marvelous bars, NONE of us has been able to succeed! And it's not like we just aren't used of baking! Come on-you guys oughta know that baking and hand crafts go hand in hand and I don't know a hand crafter who can't bake!

So I'm gonna try and dig out that recipe and post it here! And then we'll see how many of you take a poke at it and succeed! (Then maybe you can explain what I did wrong!)

And some other goodies to share...

What could I possibly have been working on at quilt group? Well, this is a quilt I made in my second quilt class (see 72 above...though this was my second...), "Beginning Machine Piecing" way back when ... Pre-Lil'Emp, maybe 10-12 years ago! (YIKES!) I machine pieced it; New Pieces in Berkeley machine quilted all but the large center house block. I left that area unquilted so that I could hand-quilt the remainder! HA! Years later, still unfinished! If I thought I was not so great at handquilting before, try doing it years later! And what I completed last week totalled maybe 12 inches?...

And I believe it is True Confessions time...
See the lovely bump of Grafton Fiber Arts fiber? Isn't it gorgeous?...yeah, I couldn't resist. So I had set out to purchase a couple of skeins of Merino 5 to finish Solly's hat and ensure I had enough of another colorway for another hat and ended up with this awesome fiber! And I caved and got AlleyOop afterall...and another Cookie Next Door...and a heavyweight Brick STR! (ps-a shout-out to Jasmin who I got to meet during my whirlwind drop-in to Purlescence! Isn't the Knitting World wonderful? And we just never know who's reading! I was glad to meet you and hope to see you there again! And BTW, the striped yarn was from the WoolGirl Peppermint Patty Kit: Miss Babs Sportweight! YUMMY!)

The plot thickens..

IrishGirlieKnits and I were discussing how I wanted to give the gift of STR to my cousin's GF who spins and now knits. I mean, doesn't it make sense to want to share STR with the uninitiated?

But what makes more sense when you are yarn-rich and cash-poor is to shop from the stash, right? WRONG! No way could I part with any of my stash!

So IGK and I discussed how Harlotty would be so perfect for the giftee, but how I didn't want to give it up. How I thought I MAY have a Harlotty mill end and how even a mill end would be ok to give, right? But if I gave the mill end, it may be more of a Rare Gem and I could never replicate it again! So I should just buy another Harlotty and give her mine for now, right?

Well, IGK says, "Open them up and compare them. If the Mill End is Harlotty, give her the mill end! A mill end is still a nice gift!"

"Yes!" I agreed.

So look at the two, side-by-side...





LOL! What the heck is wrong with me?! Clearly, I was not recalling my stash colors very well! Totally NOT Harlotty!-lol! (FYI, Harlotty is below; the mystery mill end is above it..)


So for kicks, what did I have in mill ends? Here are a few from the STR stash...

The second from the right is kind of a 'cousin' to the Rare Gem Iam knitting the Ampersands with.
..similar color patterning, I believe, though different colors used

Crazy, I know...and that other one wasn't even a Mill End! It IS a Rare Gem!

OK, so yet again, I got a bit carried away in my blogging! What else is new? So much to say! And I WILL post that turtle bar recipe (hopefully) next time!

And still more coveted gifties...

For Lil' Emp, that other coveted birthday gift would be this...
As seen on TV, it's the PANCAKE PUFF PAN!!! Yes, he really wanted one. Yes, those TV commercials are good at sucking the kids in! (He even quoted, "it's good for breakfast, desserts, even snacks!"...) I swear, when I had mentioned it to my cousin (stating this as an odd thing...), she told me her son wanted one, too!

But look...
the pan actually works and the puffs really do look like the pics on the box!

And I owe a pic of my Little Paint Can, so let's revisit that...

The can contains two mini-skeins of Lorna's Laces, and a pattern!

I chose the colorway "Ashburn"; it actually reminds me of Nartian, IrishGirlie and Me!

And does this look familiar...? This is the activity that kept me and Lil' Emp busy for a bit on Saturday...

Yep! Soaking yarn for Round 2 Dying!

Lil' Emp thought that splattering violet over the entire painted flat would be interesting...actually, I think he wanted an excuse to fling the dye around. This was probably not the best project idea for an 8yo..

.Admittedly, the splashes made for an interesting dyed blank...

So despite the fact that I told myself I would dye yarn only from what I could dig out from my massive stash, I still somehow ended up at a LYS. And somehow ended up with this hand-dyed yarn...

This is Cleo Sock Yarn, an 80% Superwash Merino/20% Nylon yarn from Cinnamon's Dye Pot in "Potpourri"; I think she is based in Maryland if I recall correctly...

And today my JOE COOL SOCK KIT from WOOLGIRL Jen arrived! When I heard about this special kit, I had to order it, knowing what a big Snoopy/Peanuts Lil' Emp has been for at least 1/2 his life! To my surprise, he had told me he wanted red, as opposed to blue for a color choice (yes, we had the choice of "Outrageous Red" -I thought it had first been called Red Baron Red...or "Cool Blue"...


I was thrilled to see what Jen had come up with for us! How can this woman make money considering all the time, care, thought and attention she puts into the kits?!I opted for the Sport Weight and in addition to the skein of the Outrageous Red colorway of "Fat Sock" White Oak TV Yarns, I also got TWO different patterns, a paw stitch marker, hand-stamped snoopy cards (made by Jen), hot tamales, a Snoopy fabric bag, sunglasses, a bendable Joe Cool Snoopy on a keychain, and a Joe Cool pen!

Lil' Emperor was THRILLED!

And saving the best for last...
Another reason today was such an awesomely YARNY day! Nartian and I got to visit with IrishGirlie. We were (ahem!) obligated to help out a dear friend...you see, Nartian and I could not in any way allow Irish Girlie to get stuck with such an overabundance of BMFA STR so, you know...we had to offer her a 'bail out'! I helped take a few skeins off her hands!

Only a FEW skeins! The one in the rear is a HeavyWeight Rare Gems. The others are an assortment of Mill Ends, Rare Gems and a MochaBerry thrown in!

And, as always, the best part is spending time with good knitting buddies who we heart!

BTW-speaking of BMFA, Tina has started blogging over at the site! She posted a contest, so if any of you want a chance at winning some STR, hop on over and enter her contest. The peek at her awesome photo is worth the visit!

I think I need to show you some proof of knitting before I go on...I'm about to finish my Camp Crow's Feet segment and didn't want this to get lost in the camp pics! So I am now on one of the two sleeves for the baby sweater! I spent a good deal of today working on the RibbyPulli Scoop, only it was slow-going and I still have around 2" more to go on the body length...I have some guilt about not spending time picking up around the house, but Sassy Man was at work and Lil Emp with his grandparents-I was home alone and took advantage of the uninterrupted time! I still have guilt, but I'll get over it!

So by now, Camp Crow's Feet has been well-reported on in BlogLand. Stephen of HizKnits has a podcast up over at YKnit which I finally got around to listening to today (as I knit on the Ribby Pulli, of course!)

I had the most fun listening to Stephen's (hizKNITS) podcast (YKnit) on Camp Crows Feet! Entertaining but maybe more so for me, cuz I was there!

So the Last day of Camp...
Was one huge Stitch and Bitch, combined with Charity Knitting! We got to sit and visit with friends and knit away! Good thing, because we had so many projects we had started in our classes and so many things we wanted to be knitting and people (like Lisa) just kept on going with their monkeys! We were supposed to finish our sock puppets and monkeys for this evening's activities and well...do knitters ever run out of yarn or projects?

The Charity Knitting was the same type blankets we had started last year-oh!-which reminds me that I promised to email the start of it to a fellow camper/tribe member! Anyways, it was the blanket where four of us worked on it at a time, knitting on a square and growing it bigger and bigger. Two opposing ends would knit the mitered corners while the other two knit straight.


So it was all about knitting, visiting, chatting, playing, shopping, hanging monkeys from ears...

Edward (?) (WHOOPS! It's Ian! Duh, it's only got a name tag!) themonkey (who's dead inside) hangs from HotFlash's ear...

making anatomically correct monkeys...

Lisa's "Brokeback Monkey"-trust me, he really is anatomically correct...

putting final touches on our monkeys...

and did I say knitting?


and playing?...


So I finally look up after all our Charity Knitting and Stitching and Bitching and realize that...it was SNOWING! Realize, I am from San Francisco; we can access the snow, but we have to drive *to* it, and you don't necessarily hit the snow when it is actually snowing! YOWZA-it was awesome! Amazing! Enchanting! And such a weird thing to me to be at Camp Crow's Feet, on Orcas Island, in the Spring, while it was snowing! Besides, I think you all realize I kinda get easily amused...


And back up at my room...

...it continued to snow...!

The evening was our farewell banquet followed by: Cathy-Cate knitting while ballet dancing, Celia's yodel-singing, our sing-a-long to Stephen's adaption to 'Addicted to Love' (his version: Addicted to YARN, of course!),
and our puppet show follies! We had a big showing of monkeys, then pig-piled them up on Cockeyed.

It was a fablulous, rowdy event.You do all realize that Cat and Steph have quite a relationship...

And some photos from earlier...

I think it took IrishGirlie two days to realize that, yes, she really was at sock camp! All she could to was clap in glee that yes, she was at sock camp!
Me and the most-talented Lara-she's the one who made the beaded needle case! I got to meet her in person--I heart Lara! Lara...the one with the evil puppy... who made the monkey who's 'dead inside'...and who gifted me this awesome lace yarn in Motley Hue!

Stariel was in my tribe this year! (yeah, the pepperoni-knitting Stariel...)

The bartenders 2 who survived Camp Crow's Feet Campers!

My Monkey, Louis (Lou-ee), wearing his scarf tied in the 'oh-so-French' way...(Hey, I didn't know we'd have so much time to work on them, so I kept mine simple!)We all enjoyed a yummy buffet banquet-shrimp, crab, oysters, desserts--and each others' company...

Camp wouldn't be camp without the Sockateers: Etta Mae, Hotflash, Cockeyed and Tammy...

and reconnecting with old camp buddies from last year...

and making new friends at camp...

Cupcake Fairy and Elizabeth

And most fun of all was having my local knittng buds to share the experience with first-hand!Nartian, me and IrishGirlie

I must say that nothing is more heart-breaking than to get up reeeaaaally early to catch the first ferry...in the snow...
only to arrive as the ferry is departing! We had a good 3 hour wait for the next ferry!

The happy thing about this is that I got to say goodbye to some of my fellow Second Year campers!

KT, Lisa, Marti, and Sheila (she's the one who did the sound effects each year: crowing and monkey cries...)



And this, posted for Knitgolfer Marcy...(yours is the second from the left)

Knitters without Borders, Scaponia, mill end, Rare Gems-and no, this isn't all I got!And it didn't take long before Little Emperor had stripped Louis of his button hat and scarf! He was entertained for quite some time on the long car ride!