It's a Mystery.....

Congratulations to all the recent graduates.  My darling son recently graduated and I am so very proud of him.  I was very impressed by the speeches the students gave as well.  They were excellent and much better than MANY that I have heard from adults with experiences writing and giving speeches.

Have I told you how much I enjoy knitting with Manos and  Malabrigo?
Well, I made another Starving Artist by Laura Linneman in Manos and making progress on the Morrigan Fingerless Mitt by Helen Wynne in Malabrigo














The CTA (Completely Twisted and Arbitrary) SAL (Spin-A-Long) for April/May just finished.  Loop was the Guest Dyer and offered two Amazing Choices.  I selected The "Kaleidoscope Eyes" which consisted of eight colors.

Inspiration

Loop Bump

635 yards n-ply

The Guest Dyer for June/July is Woolgatherings.  The inspiration has been selected, the fiber has been selected and she is working her genius.   Can't wait to see what she comes up with.

Woolgathering Stash

April Club

May Club

Swappers Remorse, maybe a little.  I swapped away Red Hot Chili thinking, I wouldn't make anything with it.  I LOVE the color, but .....  Well, TLE recently had an update and guess what, they had Red Hot Chili.... Score!!!!  (Blue Bell wanted to come along as well)

There are so many crafty things going on this summer.

• Stash Dash with The Knit Girllls is May 27 - August 12
• TTL Mystery Shawl by Kristen Kapur  is June 1 - June 29
• Goddess Knits Summery Mystery Shawl June 2 - June 30
• Wendy Knits Summer Solstice June 20 - July 17
• SSK June 27 - July 1st
• Tour de France June 30 - July 22
• Ravelympics July 27 - August 12

Mystery Shawl KALs.
For Goddess Knits - Sheepy Time Panda Lace in Foggy Dew - (Clue 1 finished)
Wendy Knits - Numma Numma The Usual in Over Easy
TTL - WM Twin in Amethyst

Clue1 - Goddess Knits

Raining Cats and Dogs

It has been raining cats and dogs today.

Speaking of cats...  One of my favorite groups has started selling their cat (dog) beds on Etsy.

 The Cat Network
The Cat Network is an all-volunteer, not-for-profit, 501(c)3, no-kill and life-enhancing cat rescue group.
The beds are made by volunteers and all the money goes towards helping cats.

My babies love these beds.  They have very firm sides and they hold up well to washing.

Hello Verdaia


I finished my handspun shawl.
Started with 4 ounces Hello Yarn Rambouillet in Turtle Stew
Spun it into 846 yards 2 ply yarn
Then knit Verdai by Jodie St. Clair
(Still need to block it.)

I finally started spinning my Phat Fiber Box from August
This is the first time that I have made singles (What do you call a finished single?)

I am working on an afghan.  It was supposed to be the Mitered Cross, but it is not showing the Noro Taiyo the way I had hoped.  I did a square as a ten stitch pattern. Think that may be more what I am looking for.  Still not 100% sold.  Maybe after I see it with the white border???

 

I know I have said it before, but I love Woolgatherings.
The March Club - 100% BFL / Choose your Fiber in Polwarth/Silk














Let's not forget my weakness for String Theory's self striping yarn.
Arachnid / Atom
Dopamine / Fermentation

It's Snowing

It is so very beautiful out today.  This is the perfect day to curl up with knitting / spinning with a fire and nice cup of hot tea.

It is so exciting to learn new things.
I am finding that spinning my own yarn, then knitting with hand-spun, I am am learning so much.
Thanks to wonderful talented friends, I am learning how to overtwist less.  That may not be grammatically correct, but it is how I feel about my spinning.

After spinning some Polwarth recently I learned that it was under spun.  BUT when knitting discovered that it was a fabulous fabric.  So, maybe under spun is not so bad.

Cloudlover -Polwarth TopHaunted Vineyard

Polwarth/Silk is AMAZING to spin.  Woolgatherings opened a club with a single type of fiber and I jumped on the Polwarth/Silk.  I absolutely love it.  I must admit a total weakness for Woolgatherings.  The February club (regular club) arrived and it is also AMAZING

Woolgatherings Club
January - Single Fiber

Woolgatherings Club
February - Merino

The Knitters Guild received an inquiry looking for someone to make stocking hats for a local hockey coach.  They were playing a special game and had special jersey's ordered and wanted matching hats.
I responded to the inquiry and had so much fun.  He had PMS colors for the Jersey, so I went to a print store to see the PMS colors.  Then I wen to a paint store to find paint chips to match.  Then I took the paint chips to several LYS to find the right yarn.  Then create the hat to match the Jersey.

So much fun.

On a recent visit to Boulder, I met some great people at a wonderful LYS.  I walked in the store  Mew Mew's Yarn Shop right at closing time.  She was so nice, said take your time we are getting ready for a knit in.  They were getting ready for an upcoming class of a dog sweater.  It was too perfect for my little diva girl.  I was able to purchase the pattern and supplies even though I will not be able to make the class. Great customer service.  They use the cutest bags that support a wonderful cause.

Do you have favorite needles?

I have learned that for lace my favorite needles are definitely the ChiaGoo Red Lace (CRL).  I was recently working on some lace and switched between the CRL and the Knit Picks Stainless (KP) which I do like for lace and was surprised at the difference.  I really like the hole on the KP interchangeable which is great for lifelines, but the tip and the join on the CRL were so much better.  When I realized that I didn't have a long enough cable and would need to switch to my KP needles, I ran to the LYS for a new needle.

We’re Back

The McRib is back at McDonalds.  The Caramel Brulee is back at Starbucks.

And I am back from Dallas.

While I was in Dallas, I had the opportunity to visit 3 local yarn shops. 

Shabby Sheep

There were two adorable strays hanging out on the porch. Both were adorable.  Unfortunately I was only able to get a picture of the handsome boy.   If you live near Dallas and are looking for a very sweet kitty.  He is looking for a forever home.  It was a very cute shop.  They sell Two if by Hand but didn’t have any in stock while I was there.  I did pick up some squishy Manos Silk.  I was thinking socks.

My second stop was at Holley’s Yarn Shoppe.  There was a wall of Manos that was just dreamy.  I couldn’t resist and bought Manos Silk and Manos Maxima.  As soon as I arrived home and could wait to wind it up and made a Starving Artist beanie.   I love that pattern.  It is fast, easy and shows off the beautiful yarn.  There was a bit left so I made a Duilleagan Ruadh cowl with the remainder.  Both projects are fast and easy and it is very possible to do both in one day with one skein.  Awesome!

My final stop was at Yarn and Stitches.  There was this scrumptious Silk Rhapsody.  They were so kind to warn me that some people did not enjoy knitting with it.  I am very curious.  Not really sure what I am going to make, but it is very pretty.

I returned home to some fiber yummies.

Haunted Vineyard in Polwarth from Cloudlover

November Club in Merino/Bamboo/Tussah from Woolgatherings

Raspberry to Cream Layered Gradient on Merino/Silk from Fiber Optic

World Series

Congratulations to the Cardinals

We had a few additions this week.

<---
From the HelloYarn / Southern Cross Fiber update we have Scamper in Falkland.

--->

Hanging Gardens is a beautiful BFL/Silk from Cloudlover 

I finished my first lace shawl from Handspun.  There were a few places where the thick/thin really bothered me but my friends assured me that it would block out.  The pattern is Swallowtail and I replaced the nupps with beads.  It is slightly larger than the pattern.  Overall, I am pleased.  Now let's hope my swap partner is happy.

And in spinning.....

I spun up the WoolGathering October club fiber.  Big Thank You to Adrien and Ann for all the support and guidance.  This is the smooshiest, fluffiest, softest spin to date.  It is a polwarth/silk blend and I am sure the fiber played a BIG part in the squish factor.  Adrien and Ann have really helped me with my overtwist issued.  (Let's hope it works for my next spin as well.)  When I was plying, it was so puffy that I didn't think it would all fit on my bobbin.  4 ounces - 576 yards - 2 ply

Diva's and Drum Carders

Diva Girl aka Pumpkin has Spa Day.  She was over due but I admit that part of the motivation was to give the poor cats a break.  She has been so incredibly hyper and needy.  As soon as we head in the direction of Happy Tails, she starts shivering with excitement.

The cats had a wonderful peaceful day and Diva girl had fun.

I finished spinning 4 ounces of TurtlePurl BFL Silk.  It was dreamy to spin.  She is so amazing.  I was so impressed that she dropped everything and did a custom gradient dye in the middle of preparing for shows and having a very busy schedule.  My swap partner loves the color and is excited (I think).  Now to pick a pattern.....

It is Malabrigo Stock-up, so I finished another Malabrigo project.  Houndstooth mittens.  It is my first time doing colorwork mittens.  I was very please with how well the Malabrigo Worsted knit up.  I think the yarn went a long way to helping keep the tension even.  They are warm and squishy.



Nerd Wars.  Not really sure why I joined, but I am glad I did.

I admit, I am only Dork and don't fully qualify to be a Nerd. 

I was only going to do the dissertation and  NOT do any of the challenges.  That plan went down in big flames!  I have completed five of the six challenges.  I really don't want to do the last challenge (costume) but the inner dork says I must.  We will see.  Must be strong.



Had a wonderful time at Spin-in.  It is alway nice to see what everyone is working on.  I learn something new at every spin-in.

Ann was so nice and even brought her 

Fancy Kitty drum carder up for us to play with.