Fall Is In Full Swing

Sigh! The lazy days of summer are gone. Fall has descended upon us in a hurry, and time seems to be flying by! Halloween is forgotten and Thanksgiving is nearing us. I have been so busy with kids/school, birthdays, anniversary, appointments, knitting, and getting together with friends that I have not posted. So I have posted some pictures of what I have been up to.

Pretty isn't it! That is the Mendocino Coast. These pictures were a short walk from the cabin my husband and I celebrated our one year anniversary in, last month! It was a very nice weekend filled with wine tasting, window shopping, and nice dinners. Remember This?

How about now?Yes I finished the NobHill Shrug from Knitty. I have lots of left over yarn, so a hat and possibly a scribble type shawl maybe in the works. I also finished spinning the Nancy Finn Merino my mother purchased for me from Knit Purl in Portland. I started working on my fleece study,

but it has been pushed to the side temporarily, ever since I went to Color. Then there was a proud mommy/sister moment as my son, and both my brothers spent the day testing in Wing Tsun. Woo Hoo! Brad made level 1 student! My baby bro made level 6 student! and my middle bro well he is level 10-2 now! Closing in on master level one! It was a long day for all, here is a pic of Brad when we got home. In a moment of play, he ran his hands through his hair and put on his step-fathers glasses, LOL!

So after the Color Fiber Festival and learning the basics of carding from Kristine. I broke out some camel/silk I purchased this summer at her studio sale and started to spin.

It is as soft and shimmery as it looks, I also learned. My friend Marie, told me she had been using her left over singles to practice her Navajo Plying, I thought it a stellar idea. So the last bit I had left, I Navajo Plied and I learned something. I like the camel/silk better in a three ply. It is so soft, it does not develop little bumps. In retro spec I wish I had Navajo Plied all of it!

One of my purchases at Color came from Pan's Garden..... Kettle dyed BFL.....with my new carding skills, the above is becoming this.Which I am spinning woolen long draw into this.I see Navajo Plying in it's future! To top everything off BadCat Designs has come up with a new knit for us! Autumn in NY triangle shawl using a long stripping color way like Noro Silk Garden Sock or Kureyon Sock. I am using the Kureyon Sock in colorway S229 A. This is a pic of charts A&B completed. I am currently working on chart C which she posted on Friday.

Booties Are Done!

The booties are finished! Finding buttons was a challenge, but I think the trains are cute. The hat is a simple pattern I found on the internet, I think using both yarns from the booties and getting a tweed effect was a good choice.

Funny Share

Recently I received this from my step mom, she's funny! I have to say it made me laugh out loud. Then it made me grateful that my Molly girl has never done this, but then again she is not left alone and I don't leave my knitting out.

Last week while at the grocery store my teen sons were up to mischief. When I returned I found they were dressing up Molly.
Can you say " I wanna be a cowgirl"? I was told no funny clothes on the dog, while game on. Knitting For Dogs has been marinating on the bookshelf since May. I think it is time to do a little doggie knitting!

Fleece Study!

Look what the mail carrier brought today!

Do I start with the cleanest? dirtiest? Ones with least amount of lanolin? Long staple? short staple? Do I just dive in and have fun? Note to self-in the future-if I buy a fleece it will have been coated and skirted, 'cause, wooo! weeee! do some of them smell, gracious me!

In need Of Some Quickies

After finishing the Summer Sampler I have been in need of a quick knit. These were just the ticket. Although not finished yet, I will finish them this weekend, so I can move on to a hat to go with them. It was also time to start my mood board. This was inspired by a trip last Thanksgiving to the Oregon Coast. It was so difficult to decide on which pictures, since there are hundreds!
My first hand spun was inspired by a shell from that trip.
It was the first time in way too many years to count that I spent Thanksgiving with my father and his lovely wife. It was also Molly Dog's first big run free at the beach for a week trip, she was 8 1/2 months old. The camel/silk I spun reminds me of my father, the one person in this world who gets me more then anyone, we creatively think alike. He also has this amazing ability with just a look, a certain look, that gets me to go along with whatever crazy idea he has in mind. It usually ends up being something fun, silly and full of laughter and adventure. So once I put all of it together, I ran for my stash of fiber and yarn. Right to left Camel/Silk, Alpaca/Silk & yummy soft Cotton.
Then I grabbed these. Left to right A soft chunky Alpaca, which I might make into Morning side Neck Warmer by Brooklyntweed , a blue green cotton/silk, maybe into a mobius shawl and 1300 yrds of soft 3 ply Alpaca I am undecided about.

The Never Ending Knit is Finished!

Done! Over! Finished! Moving on! Whew! LOL! What a great experience knitting the Summer Sampler Shawl with BadCatDesigns has been. I learned so much for the lovely Andrea! Thank you! I look forward to knitting more of her designs. So here are some photos.

Good Girl Gone Bad!

I have been trying so hard to stick to my plan, be disciplined, follow through. It has been 10 days since my new wheel arrive, my shawl is still not finished, but I have been practicing spinning on my wheel. I thought I could stick to it, just spin the Corriedale. I was doing well, spinning a heavy worsted weight. three skein I spun and plied into 2 plies. I have 2 lbs of the stuff, gees. Then it started... I decided to spin smaller, just one skein, no big deal, a 2 ply fingerling. Eight bobbins of singles, four skeins of yarn, it was time to take a break, focus on knitting. I made it 2 days and the collapse began....This little voice. You know you want to spin. I ignored it, then I saw a beautiful 2 ounces of Bombyx Silk roving in shades of purple at Llama Llama Knits. I tried to be strong... The little voice came back, you know you want to spin the Merino/Silk in shades of purple,white,burgundy.... I could not take it. I broke out the wheel and spun and spun. Before I knew it I was racing back to the yarn shop and purchasing the Silk.

The Merino/Silk Became this..... and then the Silk..... Voila! I spun the two singles together.

I know I am addicted, I just had to spin. This morning I was checking my stash and worrying, I might run out of fiber. LOL! I know I am being silly. It is just so much fun to spin, I absolutely love it!

Now I can spin some more Corriedale and wait for another 2oz of silk to arrive, so I can spin the rest of the Merino. I only used 1/2 of the 4 oz's I had. Then I will have enough yarn (approx 350 yards) to make something beautiful.