Color for Days

I ordered this in the dark of night and it arrived in the light of day. As are often the choices I make in that situation (especially with online purchases) I have no regrets today.

All of these 4 oz balls of roving are from a great source handpaintedyarn.

I love their yarns and their prices. Each of these was just $6.80. In as much as I purchased some really saturated colors, they also have more subtle colors.

Just wanted to share. Meanwhile I'm working on actual WORK and my test knitting project and my Norwegian sweater design.

For the first time...

...I planned to spin a certain kind of yarn and it actually turned out that way. Right from my mind's eye into a hank of lovliness. You know, that's never happened. I've been happy with my yarn, but my results have always been a bit of a suprise.
The top yarn is from un carded locks of...something...that I got in a trade.
This fiber is a blend of many fibers purchased at OFFF last year from Bellweather. Tweedy, blue, smells great. (love me the sheep smell).

Red

I looked around for the perfect knitting related heart object and it was right here on the desk next to me.
Sending love to all my knitting friends.

A Night at the Opera

She’s powerful. She’s dependable. And she’s smart. She’s the kind of woman you want at your side.
Machiavellian intrigue at its most riveting! With her husband deposed and presumed dead, Rodelinda wins at the high-stakes game of political intrigue by remaining faithful above all else. Fending off those who want the throne and those who want her, she deftly manages to save both her husband and the crown.

I went to the Opera last night.

Wow, what a plot! Confusing? Imagine how it would have been without the sub-titles! I've never been to the opera with subtitles. Maybe that tells you how long it's been since I've been to the opera! Anyhoooo....

There was illness among the singers and someone ended new and upcoming ended up playing the lead but I thought she was just great. Her husband is played by a woman and her husband's friend was played by a man who I swore was a woman (they don't have actual castrati anymore so where is that voice coming from??).

I don't usually write about musical performances, but this was notable enough to say, check it out if you're in Portland. Oh,and the set was minimalist and just beautiful.

Thanks, Paula.

Missy Goes a Froggin'

First off, no one has permission to call me "Missy"----EVER.
But, it was too perfect as a title to pass it up here.

I know knitters who recycle purchased sweaters by frogging them. I never thought it was a particularly nutty idea, I just never found the perfect sweater for that fate. It has to be:
Knit on a loom, not cut and sewn.
Of a really nice yarn that I would want to buy
Hardly ever worn and not FELTED at all
Big enough that there would be enough to knit a sweater out of it for my big self.

Never happened.
And then it did.
A men's sweater in the wrong area of Goodwill. I have come to understand that I should simply scan the sweater quality, running through them all briefly and then check the size. Many a fab sweater was misplaced on the rack and it was the right size for me.
But, check this out: Men's medium, never worn (as far as I could tell) 70% wool, 30% CASHMERE, tweed, sportweight cable, tweed, denim blue....$8.99!!!!!!
I'll let the story unfold in pictures now(Over a period of 36 hours):

The part that's missing in the picture above is the various kitchen utensils that were hanging off each skein at the perfect weight to straighten but not stress the yarn.

Okay, I will say more

You will see them this close once a day. Even though they are in constant competition for my attention and affection, there is this one moment every afternoon, usually when I'm not around that the older one on the left, Brahms, will groom the younger one, Suki.

It often ends in a tussle, I suppose to set the boundries right again, but for that 3 minutes or so, there is connection. It amazes me, this ritual of caretaking, nearly in spite of themselves.

I see my Brahms aging and it makes me panic to think of it. She's 17. You'd never know it, but lately she just sits and looks at me. I don't know quite what she's thinking. Okay, I know, she's a cat. Why the heck should I know what she's thinking? But, generally I do. And, she a little more sensitive to the cool temps this winter.

They've taken to putting their paws on my left leg when I'm spinning and it's so sweet it makes me wanna cry.

Kittens in the Sun

Need I say more?

My Day Was Made

Sharon of Chickenlips gave me this "You Make My Day" award. Here are the official instructions:
"Give the award to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel happy about blogland. Let them know by posting a comment on their blog so they can pass it on. Beware you may get the award several times."

Well, aside from Sharon's smile, her blog makes my day, but she's already been honored by someone else, so here is my list of 10 blogs and the bloggers who write them, in no particular order. This is a nice way to pass along the love.

Oh, are they all knitting? Gee, how'd that happen??

Dharma--- http://dharmarants.blogspot.com/

Wendy--http://www.lanasdelibelula.com/blog/

Larissa--http://larissmix.typepad.com/stitch_marker/

Gary--http://blackthornecraft.vox.com/

Diane--http://dfnojunk.typepad.com/tailfeathers/

Anne--http://knitspot.com/

Nanette--http://knittingincolor.blogspot.com/

Dava--http://www.pea.typepad.com/

Patty--http://fiberlyone.blogspot.com/

Deb--http://www.independentstitch.typepad.com/

Two Cultures, One Sweater

I think this sweater is influenced by Norwegian and a bit of Arctic lace design. It's been calling out to me for a while from my A Gathering of Lace book. As always, I buy yarn and then later, sometimes much later I figure out what will give it life. For a change, I made the perfect choice of sweater AND yarn. The yarn I'm using here is Jaeger Luxury Tweed.

The pattern name is Ljace Kofte. The designer, Joan Shrouder told me yesterday that the name is actually wrong:

"I misspelled "Ljace" - there shouldn't be a "j" in there. I was mimicking the Norwegian word "ljus", thinking it meant the lice patts, but later learned that ljus means "light", not lice. So officially it should be just "lace", I guess."

No harm, no foul. I'm loving working on this! Thanks Joan.

The Start of a Nordic Sweater

This one will be at the bottom of my sweater because it measures something like 10 inches and would be too big for the chest.
This one below is a band that I'll use on the sleeve and perhaps on the shoulder.

Here are my swatches for the sweater, using various yarns from my stash. Based on the amount I have of the really deep green background, I may need to replace it with a different green. Other than that, it looks like I'm good to go for the KAL.

My Boy is Back!

Yes, baby love of my life, Ben is back from his vacation is Guatamala. He was gone FOREVER and look, a little grown-up baby!

(That blurred image in the foreground is Brahms, looking evil right there, but actually learning to be quite sweet with my man.)

Okay, so his hat is a little big, but I was planning for the future when I knit this bit of whimsy.

Oh, he parents are back too. Cool.

And then there are the gifts from knitters!

These are beaded wristlets that Paula made for us (we're waiting on the other half of the pairs!)

This is a felted potholder that Nana made for Elizabeth:

These are little bags holding tea that Nana made for me and Paula:

And Another

Well, this gift had a bit more strife connected to it but I am damn proud of how it turned out. I actually put a label in it and it's been a year since I've done that with anything!

The first go-round the gauge was off hopelessly and I had to start over with different yarn and a new attitude. I knitted it in white wool/alpaca and black merino. On the lower edge I ran a strand of elastic on the inside, invisibly to hold it firmly on the wearer. On other examples of this I had seen knit, it seemed to flair slightly at the bottom.

The pattern is We Call Them Pirates.

The Reveal

I can finally start posting some pictures of my holiday projects now that most of them have been received.
The first if a Forest Canopy Shawl for Paula in Baby Silk by Elann.

And...socks for Nana in Merino Handspun for her wee little footsies.

Holiday

The cats are resting in front of the heater this Christmas morning and I haven't even had my first cup of tea, but I wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas.

Christmas Eve consisted of WAY too much good food at Paula's and a little watching of the Yule Log on PBS and an attempt at knitting. We opted for calling it a night because we were way too full and tired for even that.

All season I have been knitting so much that my hands are pretty tired today. I'll post my work after all the presents have been opened! Since I haven't posted since the 14th, it almost looks like I've been a slacker...but you all know better.

Now on to the first cup of tea and taking photos of some knitting before the last minute wrapping begins....

Testing, Testing...

This lame swatch is something I knit to test how these different yarns would work together in one Nordic sweater. I'm doing a KAL, sponsered by Donna Drachunus and am in the planning stages, trying to use my existing stash. My idea is to go with a Pacific Norwest tree theme instead of a snowflake theme, but we'll see how that does. The thing with designing at the DK gauge is that your motifs have to be simpler because you have less stitches to "express yourself", so to speak. I'm not usually a big planner, but I don't want to spend all this time designing a sweater only to have it not quite work out or not fit or the yarns not work well together. So, here I go on my adventure.

Meanwhile, the focus is on holiday knitting. I just got an email from my brother and I'm horrified to hear that the toes of his socks from last year blew out. They were knit from my dad's handspun. I asked him to send them back to me so that I can re-knit the toes. I'm dying to see what happened there!

Purple-ness Blocking

I have no proper blocking thing set up for larger pieces like this 71"x21" shawl, so I had to do it bit by bit on my ironing board in front of the heater. I used Clover Flower head pins and that worked quite well.

Soon, I'll get a picture of it modeled so you can get the full effect.

Leaves, not Snow

So, this is my answer to why Portland doesn't have hardly any snow equipment. They clearly blew the budget on LEAF equipment. Somehow for the past two years I've missed this ritual, but here it is in color.

(This post is meant for my out of state friends and their interest and edification)

Ladylike Presentation

Nana is here, anticipating the first bite of her Birthday Tart, compliments of Paula.
The Tart, featuring lovely antique lustreware and depression glass that Paula just so happens to have on hand to create the perfect "Ladylike" presentation. Oh, don't forget the Jasmine tea!

But here! Here is the true Paula. Her sentiments on this subject worn on her T.

Gotta love this girl....

SeaWool Socks

After a couple of froggings, these socks are finally done. What I found is that this pattern from the Fleece Artist folks who make this yarn was just fine, but too small. First off, you'll probably say that they look a lot like the Jaywalker Socks. I'm thinking the garter edge top is the difference. But, when you make a fabric like this, it's not terribly flexible. I had to increase needle size and add some stitches to the repeat. Thing is, you can see the "laddering" affect down the center, and between each chevron. That's because they are still pulling and a bit too small.
The color is VERY saturated and this picture doesn't do it justice, but I learned about the importance how the flexibility of your knitted fabric when making socks. (Still something I consider every time I think about fair isle socks after my first experience with them years ago!)