toe up socks

I seem to have lost the ability to make top-down socks. I've made them before, I remember it clearly, turning the heel, the magic of following the pattern and the heel just appearing off of the DPNs. I tried again this weekend, using the Jaywalker pattern and my new trekking xxl yarn and it just wouldn't work-

I frogged it and started over, only to rip again and turn to toe up's on two circulars and and a different stitch pattern. I'll have to try again, when I have some quiet and a little more patience.

Tim painted the end of the house this weekend, so the kids were driving me mad.

One skein swap

I wanted to say think you to my one skein pal- I got my package on Saturday and was really pleased! I think I may save it for myself to make a new winter hat! I made one last year out of some Andean silk I got from KnitPicks, I loved the yarn, but it just didn't have enough wool for memory, the brim got all stretched out and it fell off whenever I tried to shovel the driveway. So I have plans for this ball of yarn.


I shipped my package off to my pal and she did recive it and seemed to like it. Next month's will be sent late, I will be in Buenos Aires for 10 days in the beginning of July, so I hope to hit the yarn stores there and buy a whole new stash for myself. I have an extra suitcase I'm bringing just in case. The exchamge rate is 1USD=3 pesos, so $1=$.33 basically- I can get a lot of yarn- Just need to find it!

Nathan (the youngest son) is knitting Dulann Projects with me. I have two hats and neck warmer done, he is trying to make a scarf. His knitting is really coming along. I have been using all stash yarns for theis knitting, so some of it looks a bit intresting, but it will all be warm.

Jake shows no intrest, but likes to play with the ball winder. We had the fiber arts class visit the farm and the mill for the last fiber arts project of the year. Tim sheared one of the sheep that had been at the school all year, and the kids really enjoyed it.

It was clean...

Well the yarn closet was clean for about 10 minutes- long enough to take the photo anyway. It was intresting to go through all the fiber and identify what was there and where it came from. I travel for business on occassion and I always try to hit a LYS, so each ball I buy is later a reminder of the trip and the time I had. I wished I had been doing this when I travelled 3 weeks a month- but the stash management would be impossible. I see each ball and skein in there as potential- I just need to manage to potential.

I always have to remember that the basement is also full of fiber, both raw wool and clean roving when I think about buying more-

an old post I wrote and never posted from late May

I have been so busy with the end of the school year here at the University. We all love graduation and seeing the students achieve great things and how happy their families are, but it also exhausting. The worst part in my program is….it isn’t over yet! I still have my students until the end of June.

But, then in the second week of July we are taking a group of 35 of them to Buenos Aires, Argentina! Until I did some research I was unaware that Argentina was the third largest producer of Merino wool in the world. I’m hoping to find some great yarn when I am there!

The other great thing is one of my students, Jonathon is traveling to Chile with his family the week before we meet up in Argentina, so he has promised to buy me some alpaca when he is there. I also have a personal invite to visit Chile in the future, and his wife Carmen’s family.

After graduation was over on Saturday, I stopped at Wool and Word for their fire sale. I bought out all of the BaBa Joes in two different colors to make two cable knit sweaters this winter. I also got more sock yarn (like that was needed!) When I made it home my box from knit picks was waiting and again more sock yarn, and the yarn for Jake’s new needle felted sweater. So, on my day off on Monday I reorganized the wool cabinet,

BEFORE

AFTER

Part of the end of Spring fun was the Massachusetts Sheep and Wool Fair. This is the only fair we made it to this year as vendors. It is usually our best and we know so many people, it make the fair more fun. Saturday began with the truck breaking down in a mountain road- I was following in the car, so we were stuck for about 40 minutes, until Tim got the truck patched up.

We made it to the fairgrounds and set up in record time, only 40 minutes past when the fair opened, and both sweating profusely (it was a very hot day in the Northeast).

Sales of the colored roving was great on Saturday- we made more than Sat/Sun of the previous year and we picked up quite a bit of processing. Sunday was awful for sales (only 2 customers bought) but picked up loads for processing. I think Sunday was just too hot, no one was buying anything.

I did buy something however, I bought myself a new swift to match my new ballwinder.

Cabled Socks

I finally remembered to take photos of my cabeled socks and then remembered to bring the camera in. These are cabeled socks from the Spin Off Socks books. I used our shades roving, split it in half lengthwise and spun each half separetly. I then knit the socks as singles toe-up. I'm really pleased with how they came out.


I'll have them with me in out tent at all of our Spring shows, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Massacusetts.

I'm really looking forward to show season this year.

Tim roo'ed the Soay sheep this past week and it is incredibly fine- I'm looking forward to spinning some of that soon! The weather has been so beautiful lately, I've been trying to get out of the house more. The boys and I have begun geocaching and have been pretty sucessful at getting the cache. Here they are with their first find.

Kids crafts class

I should have mentioned it earlier-  the fiber arts thing with the kids has been going really well.  I like going in each week-  I just wish I had more than an hour with them.  It has taken some time, but some of the kids have gravitated to spinning, other to weaving, some knitting and some crocheting.  I have opted several weeks not to assign them anything and they get to choose what to work on.  I love to see them all excited and want to take their work home.  
Now once there I doubt they work on it, but at least I gave them a start, and they may remember later some of the steps to create it again.  

Well I finally broke

Well, I finally broke down and bought myself an Ipod, (or a cheaper variation of an Ipod) so that led to me now listening to Podcasts of all of these knitting shows.  So, of course I again had the idea of trying to keep up with a blog.  I want to be part of a community, I just lack time.  

I loved going to knitting guild on the third Monday of every month, until I realized that the hour drive was cutting into knitting time.  That and I was too lazy to leave the house once I was in it.  So, I will try the blog thing again.  I’ actually joining the one-skein secret pal list, so I will attempt to let people know what is happening in my life.  

Fiber Arts

I started the Fiber Arts things at the kids school last week-  we did tie-dyeing.  It was a good time, but I was amazed at how fast things went.  I brought extra just in case and we needed all of it to keep the kids busy.  

The tie-dyeing was a bit of a mess, one kids kept trying to squirt everyone with the dye, but I caught him in time.  I wonder how all of their shirts came out.  

This week is Kool-Aid dyeing and making ghosts from that Lion Brand pattern they have on their website.  I made one yesterday and it come out pretty cute.  

I think next week we will try crocheting, well maybe?

Three Time Sweater

Finally it seems like life is beginning slowly to get back to normal-  I hope to be a bit more proactive in keeping this page up and running!I’ve finished the Shadow sweater and I really like how it turned out.  I would have a photo, but Tim’s fiend Ron borrowed the digital camera.    I’ll get it back soon…  Now, I’m working on a similar sweater for Nathan, in black with a needle felted picture of Godzilla-

I have an update on the three time sweater-  after re-knitting the neck I won a blue ribbon at the Schagiticoke Fair-  not too bad!  

Shadow- Now how am I supposed to get this done?  

Tim found out

Tim found my blog when doing a search off the Ancient Threads page- apparently someone is reading this? No big deal- it isn't like I actually write to the thing.

I finished the three time sweater last night- well finished the last sleeve and blocked the think on my dandy little blocking board.

At last I hope it is finished. This is the third time I knitted the damn thing.

Began working again on the Tiger stripe socks, and I'm scoping out yarn for Jake's Shadow sweater. He wants a yellow sweater with a picture of Shadow the Hedgehog needlefelted on it. Sounds like a load of fun.