Shifting colors!

I have been having SO much fun knitting on this colorful mitered square blanket this past month that I just have to share my progress!



This is the first quarter of a 50 inch x 50 inch lap blanket (lapghan for those who like to be clever).  Although I still have a few (ha...a few) ends to weave in on the back, I love the fact that for the most part once you're done with the knitting, you've got a blanket to use. 

 

This time of year is the perfect time of year to knit on a lap blanket because it's starting to get chilly at night and having 1/4 of a blanket on your lap is cozy instead of stifling.  I started the blue and purple corner last night and I can't wait to see where it goes!

 

Interestingly enough, I am knitting this for my Nerd Wars dissertation, which means I have 3 months to finish it.  I'm a little worried since it's the end of the first month and I have only 1/4 done.  I'm not going to let that get me down though...I'm going to keep plugging away and let the colors unfold for me!

Servings and Remainders

It's Girl Scout Cookie time!  I confess, I'm a sucker for enterprising young people spending their free time to raise money for their organization.  It also helps that their cookies are so delicious.  (Especially the Samoas--I know the box says they're Caramel DeLites, but it lies.  They are, and forever shall be, Samoas.)

Since I'm the kind of parent who feels like any conversation has the potential to be a learning opportunity for my kiddo, when we opened this box of Samoas, I asked Tyler to guess what the suggested serving size would be.  He guessed (correctly) that it would be two.  We then chatted about how it's really important to stay active and how exercise is an essential part of staying healthy, but that it was also important to make sure you don't overeat because then you might still be unhealthy.  And yes, I understand the irony of a slightly chubby mom having this conversation with her rail thin, super muscular kid.  He may not always be so active... 

 A few days later he asked me, "Mom, if the serving size is two, WHY do they give you a box with 15?  Then there's a remainder and someone doesn't get all their serving."  (They were learning division with remainders in school that week.)  What a great question!  I figure that if they're going to have a serving size, it should be appropriate to what they give you in the container size, especially if it's something so easy to control the amount/number of.  I could see if they didn't count out each individual M&M or grape, but cookies?  That's just lazy.  So we bought another box to be sure there were no remainders.

Spindle Spun

Remember this yarn?

I finished spinning this second half of the wool: 

 And then plied it up on my spinning wheel to make this fantastic yarn. 

One of the things that is so interesting to me about spinning is that you can take wool that is bright pink in sections, orange sherbert colored in others, and then dark purple in others and put it all together and it just works.  I love how the colors all kinda mush in spots and then other spots just pop. 

(Don't be alarmed by that bit of white in there.  I was a bit off on either my spinning of the two halves or the separating of the two halves and when I plied them I had a little left over on one bobbin.  Because I can't stand to waste anything, I decided to ply it in with some other white I had already spun up.  My plan is to ply any extra lengths from the current spinning I'm doing with white and then use all the varied marls together in one project so that the white is their commonality and the colors are their visual interest.)

I seem to be awfully enthralled with spinning right now and am finding it kind of hard to want to knit.  The ironic part is that as I'm knitting less (due to the spinning), I'm also increasing my yarn amounts. 

Mine, All Mine!

In order to support my spindling addiction, I purchased a few new bundles of fluff. (Don't worry, all but one of them was on super sale, which makes it even better!)  I love that the Etsy seller packaged it up like a present! 

This is the one that started the whole purchase.  Isn't she pretty!

 

 Since the seller was also having a destash of her unused fluff and I could "Save" on shipping if I bought more than one from the same seller, I decided to go ahead and buy this lovely red braid.

 And while I was at it, I threw the two braids of green and one of turquoise into my cart and thought I'd better call it good.  I can't wait to see what becomes of these!  I'm planning to spin one of them up for a Nerd Wars challenge having to do with the weather where I'm at, but other than that I'm not sure.

One small embarrasing confession though...My spinning wheel had a broken part on it and sat in my closet for almost a year.  And now I can't remember how to get started on spinning with it!  I feel confident that once I got started I'd be fine, but it's that whole getting started nonsense.  And I don't really want to tell any other spinners that I've forgotten how to start out spinning on a wheel lest they think I'm an idiot...which I kind of feel like I am...Oh dear.  What to do?

It's that kind of day

Today the weather is overcast, rainy and windy. My favorite type of weather!!! It's so invigorating and makes me want to skip in the street wearing wellies and a polka dot rain coat. Since real life is intruding on my dream life, I will content myself with a big mug of hot cocoa... With chili powder and vanilla extract. Nothing by the best for me!

Dr. Who Swap--Part Two

I was so surprised to learn that my swap partner would be my sister that I burst our laughing in the middle of Starbucks knitting group and about half the buildings occupants gave a concerned look at the lady laughing maniacally in the corner. Surprised, but REALLY happy. She's so crafty and creative that I just knew I would be excited to receive whatever she cooked up. And boy was I! Here's a picture of all my "loot"! She made me Puppy Chow (one of my favorite snacky/desserts) for K-9, the robot dog companion of The Doctor. Also included are Tea, Popcorn and a banana (because the Ninth Doctor likes bananas). She knitted me up so TARDIS Coasters and bought some "Waters of Mars" Geek Chic yarn. It's such a great color and I am thinking of making another Hitchhiker scarf like the purple one I just finished.

She also made me some Doctor Who return address labels (one of the perks of having a swap partner who knows me is that she can make me things with my address!) with pictures of The Doctor and my favorite companion, Donna Noble. Sooo fun! I've already used 4 of them and each time I did a little wiggle dance of joy. The people receiving them might not have any idea of why my address labels have pictures of other people on them, but it makes me happy to think of some poor unsuspecting Letter carrier/processor getting a kick out of my Doctor Who labels.

Probably the most labor intensive thing she made me (by far) was this bag:

It is a fabulous project bag made to look just like the TARDIS (basically, The Doctor's time/space machine). Now, one of the drawbacks of having a swap partner you know (and spend a lot of time with) is that it's trickier to be sneaky. So I would hear at work about how Kim slaved away all evening, several evenings, many lunch hours, part of the weekend, etc., working on this project. I was starting to feel really bad that she was putting in all this time and effort into a present for me. But only a little bad--I was also really excited to find out what she had up her sleeve. Here's a picture of her working on the project:

I think at this point, she was a little disenchanted with the project and wanted it to just either be done, or for it to jump off a bridge and die.

She also made me some amazing stitch markers with pictures of Who related things (The Doctor, Donna Noble, the Sonic Screwdriver, Weeping Angels, etc.) paired with quotes from the show. They are currently being used in my Tilting TARDIS Cowl and they make me smile every time I come to one of them.

Overall, I think I was pretty lucky! I have some spectacular new Who related things and some tasty snacks. Thanks KIM!!! I would swap with you any day!

Dr. Who Swap--Part One

One day whilst roaming around Ravelry, I stumbled across a Doctor Who Swap that had just opened up for sign ups and couldn't resist signing up to participate. One of the requirements was that you had to give your recipient yarn, something handmade and any other assorted goodies you wanted to include. Of course, I was hooked! I managed to talk Kim into signing up with me (but really, I didn't have to talk to hard...she was game!) and in a small twist of fate, we were assigned as each others swap partner. It was such a fun process! Just thinking about what I was going to make...what other goodies she would like...how she was going to love love love this gift, etc.

Here's the package of Doctor Who lovelies I put together for her:

I learned how to make a box bag using this great tutorial but I also added a handle on the end. Let me tell ya! Finding a zipper to match this odd color of fabric was tricky! I also did a cross stitch with a very Who saying.

We are lucky enough to have a local indie dyer called Geek Chic who stocks her yarn with The Knit Addiction in Clovis who is very fond of The Doctor.
I also learned how to make stitch markers so that I could make Kim these cool "disappearing TARDIS " baubles to mark her place. I really feel like I need some too!

But probably the best unveiling was when Kim opened the Jammie Dodgers just because they were sooo unexpected. The Eleventh Doctor (played by Matt Smith) is very fond of his Jammie Dodgers, but thus far, I haven't ever seen them before. One day last week I went into Cost Plus World Market because Valerie told me they had great jewelry...and THERE they were!!!

Stay tuned for an upcoming post on all the goodies I received!

One Last Huzzah...

So, remember when I mentioned that as soon as I started contemplating my Stashy Challenge, I purchased two skeins of yarn? Well, one was in person, but the other was an Etsy order that just arrived today! I really LOVE LOVE LOVE this yarn! I really feel that if I had to have one last yarn buying huzzah, I am happy that this was the one I bought. It sends me out with a bang!
Joelle at Wandering Wool was very friendly and fast at shipping my yarn out. Its colorway is Cranberry Bog. Did I mention I'm in love?

Look what the postman brought!

I ordered some yarn from Indigodragonfly and it came in today! I can hardly sit still I am so excited!

The lovely blue is their "Tardis" colorway, which I found while perusing projects on Ravelry and only later found out it was a Doctor Who yarn. In case you weren't aware of my recent obsession with Doctor Who...it's pretty serious...

The purpley color is their Mugget Genome (Count) colorway. I love the vividness of these colors and the pleasing look of the pops of turquoise mixed in with the purple and berry colors. I haven't decided for sure, but I think it's destined to be a Daybreak Shawl.

Blog Reading is Expensive--or "I have no self control"

I have been intrigued by Japanese crafting books for a while now after hearing about how fabulous they are for inspiration on a podcast. Well, yesterday I came across The Sometimes Crafter's blog about the amazing Japanese craft books she recently acquired and I FELL in LOVE with the one known to me only as ISBN 978-4-391-62952-1 (since I don't speak or read Japanese). It was the picture of the projects that got me. I mean, really...who could resist this:
I LOVE the photography, the fun projects and the fresh fabrics that just seem to mesh so well, but not be boring. Perhaps it's because I love the blues and reds, perhaps it's because I love the mix of the traditional (dresden plates) with the modern (houses). I am enamored with the idea that a craft book from another nation that speaks a different language, has an entirely different culture and history from my own could have such similar likes to mine. It makes me think that crafters/sewers really are all kindred spirits and are just a super classy bunch of people. In any case, I now have my very own copy of this fantabulous book winging its way to me from Aichi, Japan (thank goodness for promotional free shipping deals!) and it should be arriving in 3 long weeks...

Jonas and his Merry Band of Men

Now, this really is a BBC Show that I have been really enjoying (as opposed to Legend of the Seeker, which I've been enjoying, but which is not BBC). "Robin Hood" is a legend that has always fascinated me...the idea of a Nobleman who could have had all the riches, comforts, and luxuries he was entitled to if only he would have toed the party line...But Nay! He had principles and sacrificed to live for those principles. And of course there's the love story...Robin+Marian= True Love forever! (or in my mind, Jonas+Tanya). Well, in this BBC version of the legend, Robin Hood is played by a very handsome Brit (ok, really he was born in Ireland, raised in England, so I'm not sure if he considers himself Brit or Irish) named Jonas Armstrong:

He's very sassy and heroic and sexy to boot! I was raving about this show to my sister and she asked if I would still like the show if the actors did not have British accents...Well, yes and no...I think a classic British tale needs to be played by Brits...or at least people who can put on a credible English accent. So, while I still would have like the show, I like it much better with accents.

And lest you think I just like him in his Robin Hood woodsman outfits, here he is in Real Life(again, as real as actor's photos get).

Other notable actors in the show are Richard Armitage (who plays a really good bad guy that you really want to see the good in) and Keith Allen (Sheriff of Nottingham...He's Really good as an evil guy). Also quite handsome in the show are Harry Lloyd (who is aparently descended from Charles Dickens) and Joe Armstrong (not related to Jonas, but how confusing would it have been to have a Joe Armstrong and a Jonas Armstrong on set at the same time?)

All the good ones are foreign

One of the shows I've been watching lately on my streaming Netflix is "Legend of the Seeker." Now, I know I specifically mentioned BBC shows and this is not BBC, but it's still very good. The show is about a guy, Richard Cypher, who (basically) has to save the world from an evil King. Typical story, but highly entertaining. He is helped along his way by a Wizard of the First Order who has wild, crazy, Einstein-ish hair and a Confessor named Kahlon who is a totally kick-@$$ fighter. While I genuinely enjoy the story, and I am enamored with all the characters, Richard Cypher (Played by Craig Horner, an Australian Hunk) is my favorite to look at. See?

And in case you think I think he's only a hottie because of his spectacular muscles, here he is in real life(well, as real as an actors headshots are anyway):

Aren't the holidays fun?

Other than the ornaments Aunt Sue has crafted for me (and all the other cousins) over the years, this is probably my next favorite. The funny thing? It came as a Starbucks gift card holder a few years ago.

Celtic Thunder Yumminess!

Kim received a ticket to Celtic Thunder for her birthday/Christmas present from Doug and I received a ticket to the same show for my early Christmas present from Doug SOOOO....we decided to go together. It was an absolutely AMAZING show! I had a great time listening to the music and watching the performers (hence the "yumminess" in the title) and Kim and I had a blast joking and laughing about a variety of crazy topics. THANK YOU DOUG!!!