FO Time

If I haven't mentioned it before, FO = Finished Object.

I have mostly been a one-project-at-a-time knitter lately. That is, until this spring, when I have been starting knitting projects right and left, spinning, felting, generally having a great time, but not finishing much. And as these things go, that can only go on so long before I start feeling the burden of all of these half-finished projects, and I go into finish-it-up mode. We begin finish-it-up time with a project started and finished on the same day.

I really shouldn't be posting this, as I am planning on gifting this, and I may be ruining the surprise. Looks familiar? It is very similar - not quite an exact duplicate - of the scarf I made for my Mom's birthday. I started it at the knitting group on Thursday, to show everyone how to use the Ashford Knitter's Loom, and I finished it before I went to bed that night! It turned out just as nice as the first one, I think. I did a lot of measuring and counting for the first one, and then I made this one sort of off of the top of my head, so it is a bit different.

I should be an Ashford dealer, as now everyone in my knitting group now wants a Knitter's Loom.

Levi looks a bit like he is being forced to model, but he was happier than it looks.

It (the scarf) is very nice, if I do say so myself, and I may just have to make a third, as I still have (probably just) enough yarn to do so.

Levi seems to be getting more blog-coverage these days, so here's a little Riley to even things up, taken during spring break at the playground in Wachapreague.

Other updates for this evening:

-The weather has been HOT (like 90 in the shade!) here, but I believe a cold front is coming through tomorrow and it is all going to change.

-We were all well for several days in a row (a first in the last few months!) but that is over now, too. Levi has had coughs and a fever, Riley just coughs so far. I'm hoping Levi can go to school tomorrow, but we'll see ...

Thanks, Mom

I used the idea from that magazine article you sent to make these "cozies" for the set of glasses that Steve gave me for Christmas. I think the design was intended to be used for hot drinks, but I hope that they will work for cold-beverage-sweating, too.


Other fiber updates:


-no more progress on the lace circular shawl. I started the lace border three times and had to rip it out ... having trouble reading the chart. Who designed this thing, anyway? Oh, right.

-Finished the baby sweater for my WA friends - finally! Now I need to start one for our new family baby ... waiting to find out if "it" is a boy or a girl! (That would be Tom and Amber's)

-Started some fingerless mitts to match a scarf I wove quite a while ago. Thinking I might either sell the set, or gift them to someone. I owe Terri something, but she says she doesn't like wool, and I just don't know what to do with that ... hmmmm. I'll post some pictures when they're done.

-My friend Amy aquired three Navajo-Churro fleeces from her sister, who raises the sheep, and together we have been washing and carding and sampling them. I have a few photos of the fleece I have, in the washing process:


Above, the whole fleece as I received it. There are two distinct "layers" to this fleece, with a long, grey/blonde course outer fleece:


and a shorter, softer, brown layer next to the skin:

and it was dir-ty! Holy Cow:

That's from the first cold-water soak - in our bathtub. Isn't my husband a dear for putting up with this kind of yuck in his bathtub, all for the sake of his wife's peculiar hobby? I think so.

OK, I guess that is enough for now. I have a bunch of projects going that I haven't even mentioned here yet. This spring has been all about starting new projects - I haven't finished very much lately! But I am having a great time letting the creative juices flow, enjoying the process, not worrying too much about the finished product. I would like to catalog everything I am doing on this blog, at least for myself (not sure if my readers are interested or not!), but I am too busy Doing, to take the time to Photograph and Blog about everything. But it's all good, as the kids say.

Random Old Photo

OK, not really random. One in which both Steve and I are looking pretty young and sveldt, at least compared to what we look like 9 years and two kids later. Even then, he was sucking in his gut, and I was doing that turn-your-hips-and-put-one-leg-forward thing that women all do when they are posing for a photo. (Mt. Rainier in the background) A nice memory.

Steve - I still love ya!

Easter

Oh, yes, a week later I am finally getting around to showing you some Easter pictures. First, the celebration at the Country Club. Nini and Poppy are longtime members of the Eastern Shore Yacht and Country Club, and hosted us and the Ben Sadtler's (Steve's brother and family) for the annual Easter Egg Hunt there. The weather was windy and cold - but the kids did not seem to mind a bit. There were bouncies:

...in addition to the main event, the mad candy scramble. Is everyone ready?

That is Stephanie, Ben and Nini, waiting for the madness to begin. Here is a small sample of what ensued:

And here they are sorting out the booty afterwords:

While the adults tried to stay warm:


(Some of the Williams' clan there - longtime Eastern Shore family friends.)

And I suppose the day would not have been complete without a photo with the big rabbit:

On Sunday, we went to the early service, and the boys and I joined the church we have been attending, Franktown United Methodist. We haven't been attending very long, but we are really comfortable there, and it seems like a good fit for the whole family. Steve is, as the pastor described him, a dedicated Presbyterian, and decided not to join. More accurately, Steve is a free-roaming, liberal Quaker type Christian, and won't be tied down! Apperently, I am the traditionalist in the family.

Hope your Easter was as full and as fullfilling!

We Rogues of Wool

I will write a "real post" soon - but I had to share this.

Read the cartoon:


Sing the song:


Buy the t-shirt:


Enjoy!

Family Here

Family is here (earlier than expected!) for the Easter holiday - so I might not have time to blog in the next few days. But we are having fun, and I will update you with pictures and such when we get to the other side!

Here are a couple of boy-boy pictures to tide you over:

This is what they will be wearing for Easter - now I just have to find some appropriate shoes ...

The Next Big Thing

The impetus behind finally getting (making) myself a yarn swift, after having done without for more than 20 knitting-years, is this one particular project that has been forming in my mind for awhile now. I bought a skein of Lorna's Laces Helen's Lace, 1250 yards of 50/50 lace weight wool and silk, color "Vera", at Rosie's Yarn Cellar in Philadelphia in the fall of '07. I didn't have a project in mind at the time, but gradually I developed a vision of a circular shawl with a fairly plain interior and a deep, interesting, sideways-knit border. The trouble with this design is the danger that you will run out of yarn on the way around the border, as it is very hard to guess how much yarn you will need for the border relative to the body of the shawl. I speak from experience on this one.


Are you still with me?


So, in the book The Best of Knitter's Magazine Shawls and Scarves, Joan Schrouder describes a technique of knitting the two (body and border) separately and then attaching them. So that is my plan - but that involves (in my mind, at least) knitting from both ends of this 1250 yards of lace weight yarn. I definitely needed to wind it into one of those cute, flat yarn "cakes", like what you get from a ball-winder. And I definitely needed a swift, or this could turn into 1250 yards of tangle in a hurry! So here we are:

Yes, I have changed to a champagne bottle. Taller, and nice and heavy on the bottom. The winding actually took me several days, as I kept getting interrupted/bored and putting it down.

Here we are partway through the winding. (Me and the mouse in my pocket.)

And here it is all done - phase one finished! Now, on with the design!

I consulted several lace edging designs from http://www.knitting-and.com/ , and the Harmony Guide to Aran and Fair Isle Knitting, and I have decided to make up my own:



Doesn't it look interesting? Time to swatch!