Monday, January 15, 2007

A Loopy Weekend.....

Well, it is a snowy Monday morning and we are back from St. Louis. We had a GREAT weekend, as I knew we would. I was able to do LOTS of knitting, and , drumroll please, finished my very first sock. (And have the second one cast on....) It was not hard to finish with the enthusiastic support of Sheri, my dear friend, from The Loopy Ewe. Here you see her and I and her knitting daughter hard at work on our projects. (And my first sock conveniently located on my leg for show!!)

This was not, however, where I spent most of my weekend. Here you see me where I 'parked' myself for most of the time. A comfy recliner with Zoe, her Loopy cat, nestled on my lap. I REALLY need to get a cat to keep me company while I knit!! (Sumo and Nikko would LOVE to sit on my lap while I knit, but their size makes it a little uncomfortable!!!!) Too bad Ryan and Kirstin are so alergic to cats or I'd be out looking at kittens instead of writing this blog!












Zoe is in line for my next Kitty Pi bed, which I plan on making with all my leftover felting yarns. I know that she is a little impatient in waiting for me to get it knit, and decided that this purse I made would do just fine in the interim.















The most exciting part of the weekend was being able to see The Loopy room! WOW! Sheri does an amazing job with her business and it was fun to be a part of it for a few days. I got to help pack orders and was even there when a yarn shipment came and got to experience the fun of unpacking all those fun yarns.


I'm still not exactly sure how the guys passed the time (since they are 'muggles' (non-knitters) according to the Yarn Harlot). They are both Mac guys, and did spend some time on their computers as well as at Sheri's WH's shop. My husband had a wonderful weekend despite not knitting.....








On the knitting front, I did start and almost finish the ballband bag for Kirstin. It is huge! I can't wait to felt it. I have 6 or 7 inches left to knit on the handle and it will be ready to felt. I knit it with Paton's wool double stranded on size 15 needles.

















At one of the yarn stores we visited, I came across some Lopi wool that I have been wanting to felt with. Bought a few skeins and made one into a bowl during the drive home. It is ready for a trip to the washing machine!!





The drive home took a little longer with the ice storms that were going through the area, but it was not as bad as we had thought. Not until we got 10 miles from home. Then the snow started and the roads were covered and slippery. We've gotten 6 inches so far, and it keeps coimng.

Ok, NOW it feels like winter has arrived!!













Sumo loves the snow. Loves to eat it and roll in it and run around. When he was younger, we would hook he and Nikko up to a dogsled and they would pull the kids all over. He LOVED it. At 11 years old, he is now retired from the dogsled, and has been replaced by the 4-wheeler. (The kids still enjoy riding on the sled behind the 4-wheeler!!)
















For my last photo, I will return to my finished sock on one of the Loopy Ewe's sock blockers. This sock took me 6 1/2 months to knit. I do hope to speed up the process on my next one. I'll keep you all posted on my progress!!

Until next time.....




10 comments:

Allison said...

Wow sounds like a wonderful time! I can't wait to see how much that ballband shrinks!

meg said...

Great job on your sock! When I made my first one three years ago, I thought for sure I would never finish and never knit them again:) But, now it is almost all I want to knit. You do get a little faster as you go...and all the great yarn and fun patterns really make it addicting! I am jealous of your weekend with Sheri! How fun. Snow is coming like crazy here too...love it as long as I don't have to drive in it!

gilmore girl said...

I'm so excited about my bag!!! it's awesome mom =)

Anonymous said...

The bag is really fun, I am looking forward to seeing it felted!
Sounds like a great weekend and I agree what on earth could the husbands be doing???
Good work with the sock, it looks great.

AR said...

That sounds like you had a great time. I love all of the pictures, too. Well, except for the snow.

Robin said...

That sock looks great. I can't wait to see the mate. Janice there is absolutely nothing like the feel of hand knit socks on your feet. Once you experience you are hooked and need a couple months worth of socks. Great job. I was wondering about you in St. Louis and wondered if you got to go see the Loopy Room and I didn't even know that you and Sheri were friends. Congrats again on the sock.

Shelley L. MacKenzie said...

Awesome, awesome job on your first sock!!!!! You are so going to be addicted to sock knitting...you have to be...it's a law you know!

The ballband bag is going go be great, as will the lopi bowl!

Glad you had a great time on your weekend jaunt! We're getting snow here today too.

rohanknitter said...

Fun times in a yarn shop! And, your sock done! (it looks great) I have not been ambitious enough to start on one yet. The colors on that bag are great, we'll all want to see it when it's felted. And I can't believe all your snow- we have only the lightest dusting.

Deborah said...

Loved this post. The pictures are lots of fun. I WANT THAT BALLBAND BAG!! It's going to be gawjus!

Deby said...

Its amazing how big bags are before felting them! Great bag.
I also love your sock. The process does get faster and its also addicting! I love your blog. All your food looks so yummy too!