Knitting and Spinning and Bears, Oh My!

Ok, so there was plenty of knitting and spinning this past weekend, but the bears failed to make an appearance! (We think we spotted a couple on the drive home, but were not allowed to go back and feed them and take pictures, so we will never know!) Anyways, there were six of us that met up at the Graves Mountain Resort in Virgina. Here we are: Me, Alice, Wendy, L-B, Julie and Sheri. It was humbling for me to be in the midst of such experienced spinners and knitters. They were all incredibly inspiring!!


I spent most of my time knitting. I did give the drop spindle a try and sat for a bit at the spinning wheel. I think I could really enjoy spinning. Hmmm, may need to look into getting a wheel at some point. Here is Sheri getting a lesson with the drop spindle. (Alice was an incredibly patient teacher with both of us!)














I decided to start a Ballband bag to work on over the weekend because it is an easy project to work on and visit at the same time. I made pretty good progress. I am using Ella Rae Classic Wool yarn double stranded on size 15 needles. It will be a large bag.. probably big enough to carry a laptop! I hope to have it ready to felt next weekend.








I also worked on my Monkey sock. I got the first one done and got the second one cast on and the rib finished. I am using Shibui Knits yarn in the Earth colorway. I love the feel of this yarn. I can't wait to have them done!










My last project was the second Fetching Fingerless mitt for Kirstin. I just have to finish the thumb and they will be ready to send her. I love this pattern.















We took a side trip on Saturday to Carodan Family Farm Yarn shop. I took the plunge and purchased the yarn and pattern for my first sweater!! I am very excited and received a lot of encouragement from the 'experts' that I could do this!! I plan on working on my swatch this weekend and hopefully casting on the sweater after that.
Edit: The book is Ella Rae Queensland Collection Book Seven. The pattern I am looking at doing is called 'Gracie', although I may change my mind and do the 'Bubbles' pattern instead. Decisions, decisions... (Oh, and the yarn is Kathmandu Aran color 145)


I also found some sock yarn that needed to be mine. I loved the colorway. It's a black/blue/gray blend that I think is going to be beautiful. And it looks beautiful just as a skein, which is good, because I'm just not sure when I'll get around to casting it on!
(I'm so glad that sock yarn doesn't count as stash. It simply enhances my 'collection'.)










Well, I have more to share, but will save that for later this week. I'm experiencing some knitting withdrawal so I think I need to go pick up my needles for a bit.

Until Next Time...

I'm Off Again...

Yes, my bags are packed once again and I am heading to the airport in the early morning for a weekend knit-away with my friend Sheri. This will be the view from our room. I can't wait. We will be meeting other knitters there and knitting into the wee hours of the morning. And, with turning our clocks back Saturday night, we'll even get an extra hour!! I'll be back late Sunday and will have lots to share for Monday. (Unless I get eaten by a bear...)



Quick kitty update. Miss Calico has been officially named 'Biscotti'. ('Scotti' for short). It seems to fit her well. She is adjusting well to her new surroundings. She really is a pretty little thing.








Sumo has had a traumatic day, starting with an early morning trip to the vet to get his teeth cleaned. I always feel like such a traitor leaving him at the vet office, especially because he usually thinks when he gets in the car that we're going to the lake for a walk. Double bummer. The vet did give him a toothbrush-shaped treat. Big whoop. He'd much rather have gone for that walk around the lake!



Well, off to finish packing. I'm just not sure what knitting to take. So, of course, it feels like I'm taking it all! Sure hope I have lots accomplished by the time I get home!

Until Next Time....

A New Kitty...

Kirstin and I picked out a new kitty yesterday that they had at the yarn store in Galena. Now, before you get too excited (Sheri), the kitty is not for us, but for our neighbor. She had gotten a kitty the day before and really wanted a playmate for it. I remembered these kitties from when I was at the store last week, so I offered to pick one out for her and bring home. Kirstin chose this adorable Calico. (FYI- Did you know that Calicos are ALWAYS girls??? I didn't!)



When I got home with the kitty, I stopped by our house to get the camera and we decided to show Sumo the new kitty. Big mistake. BIG MISTAKE. I saw my first ever TRUE 'hissy fit' as Miss Kitty reacted to this 85 pound lab. Let's just say by the time the 'meeting' was over, Steve, Sumo and I were all bleeding and the poor little kitty was traumatized. So the cute photo I hoped to have for my blog just didn't happen!!


Fortunately, the meeting of the two kitties went extremely well! They purred at each other and loved on each other and all was forgotten and forgiven. (At least I think so. My finger that she bit through is still pretty sore!!)





I finished the first of a pair of Fetching fingerless gloves for Kirstin. I am trying a new yarn - Wool Bam Boo - and I love it. It is a combination of wool and bamboo and it feels so soft and warm. And the color is so pretty.






While at Fiber Wild getting Miss Calico (not her name, but she is yet unnamed) I picked up some more yarn for fingerless mitts. I love this Fetching pattern, but also just ordered some of Monica's fingerless mitt patterns from the Loopy Ewe! Yeah! I can't wait to knit them!






I have also started another pair of Monkey socks. I know, I know, I really need to try another pattern, but I really love knitting these and I love wearing them. This is my first time knitting with Shibui yarn. I'm liking it so far. I'm a little worried that I'll run out of yarn, so I think I will not add an extra pattern repeat to the leg like I usually do. These will be great to work on when I fly to DC on Thursday. (More on that trip in my post tomorrow....)







Kirstin was home this weekend and went to a costume party Friday night. She wasn't sure what to go as and asked if we had a Kimono from our time in Japan. I actually had bought two and had them stored in the basement. Stuck a couple of chopsticks in her hair and she was good to go! And so beautiful!! (Here she is with my Mr. Wonderful!!)










Aaron called from college to let us know he had gone to a costume party this past weekend as well, and actually won first prize for "Individual Costume'! Here is what he went as... Yes, that's right, a TOILET!! We are SO PROUD! (I guess he could even be flushed!)











As for Sumo, he has been spending his days outside enjoying the fall weather and the sunshine. Here is where he has been sitting.. on a bed right outside the front door. This was actually Nikko's bed (his is on the other side of the porch) and he is just now starting to sit here instead. He misses her greatly, but has decided he would rather not get a kitty if that's ok with us!!









Until Next Time...

Wonder of Wonder...

Miracles of Miracles. My bag actually came out just fine!! I couldn't be happier! I knew I had over 4 hours to knit in the car yesterday, so I just decided to keep on knitting on the bag and try to loosen my gauge a bit and see what happened. The further along I got, and the heavier the weight of the bag, the more it seemed to stretch and loosen what had already been knit. When I finally finished, it was basically the same size and I knew that the felting process would take care of the rest. And so here it is!







And here is the back. It still is one of my favorite bags that I have done. Just not my favorite bag to actually knit! But I can certainly see doing more in my future. Lots of fun color combinations out there that you could do!
(Circle Tote pattern here)














As we were driving out of Galena yesterday I saw this amazing billboard! Can you believe it? A whole medical clinic that sees the value of having fiber in your life. Now, I am just sure that they are talking about the whole fiber arts thing and how knitting or other fiber related activities can reduce stress etc.. I mean what other kind of fiber is there that could really be a 'friend'?





We had lunch today at one of our new favorite restaurants downtown Galena. They have a Shrimp Po-Boy sandwich that I love. I order it every time. Usually I like to vary things up a bit but I do get into ruts at some restaurants. Like Big Bowl. I always have to get Chicken Pad Thai. (And I know some of you can relate... right Karen?) Always. I know that if I get something else I will be disappointed. Am I the only one that does this?








My husband continues to polish his role as my very own 'Mr. Wonderful'. Guess what he did today? He actually made the calls to get more information on and sign up for dance lessons. We've talked about wanting to do this before Ryan and Mallory's wedding and he actually is making it happen. Wow. That certainly will be fun to blog about! Stay tuned!

Until Next Time.....

Odds and Ends

I felted my bag on Monday and LOVE it! I am going to have an acrylic piece cut for the bottom to stabilize it more, but I think it will be a perfect book bag. The colors are very me! It really was fun to knit a bag after all the sock knitting I've been doing lately. If you missed a previous post, the pattern for this bag is 'Baby's Got a Brand New Big Bag' by Maia. I used Paton's Classic Wool with just a little Andes wool that I had left over from my felted clogs I made last fall. I double stranded my yarn and used size 15 needles. It's quite a large tote!!





I also finished my Fetching Fingerless gloves. They are so warm!! It is very cool out this morning so they are perfect!! They will be especially nice when I start working again mid-January in the tax office. My hands always freeze at the computer!!





I decided to start the second side of the circle tote, even though Sheri gave me permission to not hurry, since my socks won't be ready by next weekend anyways. (I thought I could earn extra points by being the first one done with our deal!!) So I cast on and got about half of it knit yesterday and realized that my gauge is WAY OFF!! I had knit the first half in June (BEFORE I started knitting socks) on size 10.5 needles. Then I knit all those socks on tiny needles and I think I became a tighter knitter!! Anyways, I don't know if you can really see the problem from this picture, but I am over half way done and it is just a little over a third as big as side 1!!! (And when you look close the knitting is obviously much tighter even though I knit it with the same yarn on the same size needles!!) What is a girl to do???? I think I will set it aside for now and cast on a pair of Monkey socks. That will make me happy!!

Oh, and shopping makes me happy! I decided to go into the town of Galena yesterday which is full of fun shops. I wanted to go the the yarn store, but remembered just as I got there that it is closed on Tuesdays! Bummer. Before I knew it, I found myself in my favorite store purchasing a coat. I confess, I have an addiction to coats. I don't know why. Some women collect shoes; some purses; for me, it is coats. (I think it's because I'm always cold and always wanting to get warm.. which coats are good for!!) So here it is.

When I confessed to Steve that I had bought yet another coat and showed it to him, my very own 'Mr. Wonderful' said in his 'Mr. Wonderful' voice: "I don't mind that you bought that coat one bit. It looks really good on you". I think he's getting it!!




Well, off to cast on some socks. Any advice on my bag dilemma would be appreciated! Have a wonderful day!!

Until Next Time...

Ready to Felt..

My bag is knit and ready to felt. I am so excited to see how this turns out. I am loving the colors. I can see myself carrying this bag everywhere! Now I need to get busy and finish the circle tote I am making for my friend Sheri. I'm making her a tote; she's making me a pair of socks. I just saw on her blog that she has one of the socks done already. I have half the tote done, so maybe I can get it finished and felted before I see her next weekend. (We are taking an exciting trip together.. stay tuned for more details!!)







I watched my Sunday football yesterday and finally cast on and finished one of the Fetching fingerless gloves. I made it with my Baby Alpaca Twist. It is so incredibly soft and warm. I had to frog the first one, as I realized it was going to be too tight. (I have large hands). I cast on 50 instead of 45 stitches the next time and they fit great!! I need to quickly do #2 so I can wear them! It's starting to get chilly around here!




I think if leg warmers ever come in for dogs, that these would work great! (Minus the thumb opening, of course!) Here is Sumo right after a visit to his Vet. He needs to lose 5 pounds and have his teeth cleaned, but other than that he's in great shape!! He's now up to walking over a mile and a half with me and still has energy to burn when we get home! Will maybe go up to 2 miles pretty soon. The walks are such a highlight for him!!







Well, short post. Thanks for the great comments last time!! I LOVED all the new 'Mr Wonderful' comments you guys had!!

Until Next Time...

Meet Mr. Wonderful

Yes, this is Mr. Wonderful. He was the token male at our womens retreat last weekend. Mr. Wonderful has the amazing ability to know exactly what a woman wants to hear. You just need to press his stomach and he will say one of the following things:

"I don't need sports to make me feel complete; just you by my side to love"

"This evening, let's just lie in bed and talk all night"

"Thinking of you is the best part of my whole day"

"You're perfect just the way you are! I wouldn't change one thing."

"This rose is for you."

"Darling, take just as long as you want to get ready; I don't mind waiting one bit."

"How about a big kiss?"

We told the women at the retreat that if they were missing their husbands, they were welcome to come and give Mr. Wonderful a little squeeze. We also told them that their husbands were being trained to say these things while we were gone and all they had to do is push in on their stomachs when they got home and they would say wonderful things. Of course we were lying, and I have no idea how the husbands reacted!!


I'm making great progress on my bag. I decided to go with the tan, as many of you suggested.
I should have it knit and ready to felt next week when we go to Galena. (My washing machine here doesn't felt well at all!!) I can't wait to have it done and ready to carry. The truth is, I will have less knitting time in this bag then I do in one sock!! No wonder I was able to make so many more bags than socks!!




It has been over 5 weeks now since we put Nikko to sleep. Hard to believe. Sumo finally seems to be adjusting and is actually staying outside more and more. He just seems to have resigned himself to the fact that she isn't coming home. But he still always seems a little sad. It's hard to lose your best friend!




He did perk up a bit when I gave him a little turkey that I was cooking for some soup I was making. We are having 16 college students in tomorrow night for dinner and I wanted to get a jump start on the meal. Chili; turkey soup; cornbread rolls; fresh fruit and a brownie truffle. I've shared all the recipes but the turkey soup. This is so yummy!! And with Thanksgiving next month, it will be a great one for leftover turkey. Forgive the picture, soup is hard to photograph!!

Turkey Rice Soup

2-3 carrots, chopped fine
3 celery stalks, chopped fine
1 large onion, chopped fine
3-4 large cans chicken broth
1 cup rice
1 stick butter
3/4 - 1 cup flour
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup half and half
4 cutlets of Turkey breast, cooked and cubed/shredded into large pieces
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning, if desired (I don't use)

1. Use 1 can chicken broth to cook vegetables and rice in for 25 minutes.

2. In large pot, melt butter then add flour to make a paste. Add two cans of broth to this paste.

3. Add cream of chicken soup; half and half and rice/vegetable mixture.

4. Lastly add cooked turkey and, if desired, poultry seasoning.
(Also can add 4th can of broth if a thinner soup is desired)

5. Simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Enjoy!!

Until Next Time...

Changed My Mind

I changed my mind on what colors to use for my new big bag. As I was starting to knit, I kept thinking about how similar the colors were to the first bag I had knit with this pattern. Here is that bag. I love the colors, but am thinking it would be nice to do different colors this time around. (I gave this bag to a good friend for her birthday).





I decided to add some blues instead of the paprika color. I can't decide if I want to use the light cream or the light tan at the top. What do you think? I am heading to Galena today to do a little work over there and to do a little knitting. I should make some good progress on the bag. I'm also taking a sock to work on if I need a change of pace.





Or a change in needle size! I am knitting the bag on size 15 (10 mm) needles. I feel like I am knitting with tree branches after working with sock needles for so long! Here you see a size 15 needle next to my size 1 (2.5mm) sock needle. (Which isn't even the smallest sock needles I have!) Quite the difference! The nice thing is you do make lots of progress pretty quickly when you are knitting on this big of needle!!












I thought I would share with you my favorite thing to store my sock needles and my Knit Pick Options needles in. I have two Quantum Tackle Worm wallets that I got at Walmart for $5.00 each. They are soft sided and have a handle and zip shut. Inside there are clear pockets that close that I can keep my circular and dpn sock needles in very easily. They work great. Very portable and easy to take along.










This last picture I took for a contest they are having over on the blog for the Coffee Swap III that I joined. (Yes, I'm kind of into swaps now...) You had to show your favorite place to knit. Well, here it is. I sit on this corner of the couch with my diet pepsi; Ott lite and Sumo at my feet. Very comfy, cozy.









Until Next Time...

October 15th

How can it possibly be October 15th already? That's half way through the month that I feel just started yesterday. No wonder life just seems to be flying by!! I had a GREAT time at the retreat this past weekend. Lots of laughter. LOTS of chocolate.
This is a picture of the chocolate that was flowing Friday night. I was tempted to just take a straw and drink deeply.....











But instead I chose from the tray of strawberries; bananas; pretzels; marshmallows; vanilla wafers etc.. and dipped to my hearts content. In fact, I practiced the 12 Step Chocolate Therapy program I read about in England... and that is never to be more than 12 steps away from chocolate!!

Here is my friend Karen helping out by cutting the bananas for the tray. (Good strategy also for staying close to chocolate!!)






Sumo thinks that a chocolate fountain sounds pretty yummy! There's other things he would choose to dip, however: doggie treats; llama berries; a baby bunny; well, you get the idea!! Good thing chocolate is poison to a dog!! He won't be dipping anything in it any time soon!








One of the things we did was have everyone bring a baby picture and we tried to guess who was who. This is the picture that I brought of myself. Wasn't I just so cute?














I didn't get much knitting done, which is ok. I did cast on the Dream in Color but that is it. I have decided that I also need to make a felted bag. I love Maia's Big Bag pattern and have knit two of them and gave them both away. So, I think I will make myself one. Here is the yarn I have chosen for it. I will probably cast it on later today. It's going to be strange to knit with those larger needles again after sock knitting!!



Now I'm off to tackle laundry and some cleaning. Heading to the print shop later with Ryan and Mallory to finalize their wedding invitation. Just a little over 2 months to the big day. They are getting pretty excited!!

Until Next Time...

Coffee Swap Three

SWAP QUESTIONS

1. Whole bean or ground? - Whole bean

2. Fully-loaded or decaf? - Fully loaded

3. Regular or flavored? I love flavored coffees

4. How do you drink your coffee? Out of a cup. With added cream and Splena (or sugar free flavoring) I like it hot, but love it iced.

5. Favorite coffee ever? My daughter makes a wonderful latte. I sure miss it now that she's at college!

6. Are you fussy about your coffee or will any old bean do? I'm not as picky as some. I think I add enough extras that I sometimes cover the true bean flavor...

7. Favorite treats to have with your coffee? bagels; biscotti;

8. Anything else about your coffee preferences? I love chocolate covered coffee beans as well for that emergency coffee/caffeine fix :)

9. Yarn/fiber you love? Wool/wool blend sock yarn. I'd like to be buried in it. (Alive, preferably!)

10. Yarn/fiber you hate? Acrylic

11. What's on your needles? 2 socks; a Chevron Scarf; a Irish Hiking Scarf; A Big Bag

12. Favorite colors? blues, browns; creams, reds, teals, oh, just about everything :-) Neon colors don't do much for me... I'm a bit introverted when it comes to my yarn.

13. Allergies? Tylenol with Codeine. Not pretty.

14. Anything you really love, really don't like, or just need to get off your chest? I have loved the knitting/blogging world and getting to know fellow knitters from all over the world. This is my 4th swap and I have had wonderful experiences so far and looking forward to this one as well! Sounds like some highly caffeinated fun!!

Slowly But Surely....

I am getting over this virus! It has taken much longer than I would have liked! But today my voice is pretty much back to normal and my energy is at about 80%, so I am feeling pretty good! Good thing as tomorrow morning I leave for an overnight Women's Retreat that I have been helping to plan! Certainly going to need my voice and energy again for that!


I got my Claudia Peppermint Mocha socks finished and they are washed and drying on my sock blockers. With this pair done, that leaves only my Vikings sock left to finish and I will be cured (for now!) of the dreaded SSS! (Second Sock Syndrome).














I am getting quite a collection of knit socks now! It is very exciting. I told Steve that I need a shelf to display them on rather than hide them away in a sock drawer! They are far too pretty to look at for that! He agreed! (What a great guy!!) So now I'm looking for a sock shelf!
Here you see my sock stack so far. I have knit 5 of the 6 pair, but had to include the wonderful pair that Anne sent me last week. (See here).




Of course the Vikings sock I'm working on is the project I keep in my car for 'knitting emergencies', so I guess I can cast on some more! Yeah! Of course this is a problem because I can never make up my mind which yarn I want to knit up next!! Here are the ones I'm considering:

Fiesta Baby Boomerang in Raspberry Mocha
Socks That Rock in Minestone
Shibuiknits in Earth
Gyspy Girl Knits in Blackberry Bramble
Dream in Color Smooshy in Dusky Aurora.

Choices! Choices! I will probably cast on 2 pair: Another pair of Monkeys and the Loopy Laces pattern by Wendy.

Talked to my mom this week, and she told me they are going to start a sock knitting club in her town! Yeah! She even said she might consider learning after the first of the year. I think she saw how portable it was, which is appealing. She does amazing wheat weaving, but that is not overly portable!! I'm sure she'd especially enjoy it now as she is sitting with my dad at the hospita as he just had his hip replaced Monday. He's doing GREAT! He should be home Friday.

I'm also planning on knitting a pair of Fetching Fingerless Gloves. I have wanted to make these for so long and with Winter on it's way, now seems the perfect time. I am going to use some Baby Twist Baby Alpaca in a beautiful shade of blue. This picture doesn't show the color well, but I think I'll like them!












When I was visiting my parents a few weeks ago, my dad kept talking about this AMAZING apple dessert my mom makes. I asked her if she would share it with us, so here it is. It does look yummy and I plan on trying it next week.


Dansk Apple Kaka—
from a restaurant in Sweden

½ cup butter
½ cup sugar

Beat for 5 minutes—then stir in:

2 egg yolks
5/8 cup flour
1/3 tsp. B. powder
Stir for 10min

Spread in pan – (My mom uses a 2 ½ qt. Corning oval pan(10x 12) that serves 12 people with a nice size serving) Bake 15 minutes at 350 degrees

Cover with “lots of apples”( 6-8 cups of cooked apples) that have been almost completely cooked with a small amount of sugar. The exact amount of apples is not important. Mom likes to use a good cooking apple which are in abundance right now!

Meringue
Beat 4 egg whites, then slowly add a scant cup of sugar
Beat about 10 minutes

Cover apples with meringue; then sliced almonds . Bake at 315 degrees until brown—about 45 minutes



Sounds pretty good to me!!

Until Next Time....

Speechless Again....

Just when I was starting to get my voice back again (after losing it to a nasty virus) I got this package in the mail which left me speechless again! Anne (who was the recipient of my Monkey socks) sent me this package as a 'Thank You' and it included a pair of handknit socks!! Plus some M&M's (she's read my blog!) and a wonderful hand written note. I was totally overwhelmed! Thanks so much, Anne!




I have still been battling this virus! It's a nasty one. It's been a bummer in many ways. 1). Kirstin is home for the weekend and I hate being sick when she's here! 2). I haven't even been able to do much knitting, which is a bummer. One would think when one is sick you should be able to just curl up and knit...but it never works out that way when you're sick. You feel too rotten to do anything! 3). I had to cancel a hair cut and highlight appointment that I booked 6 weeks ago (because that is how long it takes to get in!) Now I'll be scrambling with what to do with my hair until I can get another appointment!!


I did manage to finish my Monkey socks! They are washed and ready to wear, which is very exciting. I know I need to branch out and do another pattern, but I may have to cast on another pair of Monkey socks just for fun. I mean, that is, of course, after I finish my other socks.














I am making a little progress on my second Peppermint Mocha sock. I'm feeling a bit better today and hoping to work a little more on it while watching some football perhaps. I'm enjoying this yarn, the pattern is just a little boring. Yep. Need to cast on another pair of Monkeys.....







Sumo has been getting all kinds of extra attention this weekend. Steve gave him a nice bath and brush and then he and Kirstin took him for a long walk.













And lots of extra petting. I usually don't like to pet him in the house because his hair goes EVERYWHERE! But he's just so darn cute and hard to resist. Besides, I read once that petting a dog relieves stress!













Well, back to the couch.

Until Next Time....