Smittin by Knittin'

A NEW YEAR

Guess where I am?  I'm at the Pasadena Superior Court waiting to see if I'm going to picked for a jury.  Since I can't knit and its 10:45 and I already finished the little crochet project, I guess I will catch up on my blog and let you all know what has been going on in my life since my last post in July (I'm so bad).

I left off with the anticipation of going to Sock Summit 2011.  What a blast.  Several of my friends from The Skien went also,  Nancy Rodriguiz, Judith Gary and Susan Adams.  My hotel was right across the street from the convention center thanks to hubby making all the arrangements.  I took the metro train from the Portland airport to the convention center and I was home.  No rental car to park, totally awesome.  I had classes all three days.  My favorite was was Judith Mackenzie the spinning jedi master.  I was extremely lucky to get in and the class was well worth it.  I brought my traveler spinning wheel and we all got to touch, feel and spin some the different fleeces she brought with her while she explained the differences of the different wools.

My next favorite class was on argyle socks with Ann Berk.  I love doing color work and I got some really great information on yarn manipulation that made the whole process alot easier not just with socks but other intarsia projects too.

I started a pair of socks right before Sock Summit so that I would have something to knit on the plane.

I spun the yarn from some fiber I bought at Sock Summit 2009.  Purchased from Blue Moon.  I totally love their yarn and fiber.

I just finished these socks afew weeks ago.

On my last post I shared a bunch of bunny pictures that I knit mostly for sale at Church.  Knitting all those bunnies started me down a road I would never have expected. I discovered all kind of animal patterns and that was the start of a whole other obession.

Meet Pearl the Knitter bear.  She was really fun and then there was the penguins.

I knit these little guys for a gal at church who also bought a bunny.

I thought I would give crocheting a try.  There are all those really cute arigumi patterns.  They work up really quick. Opps, I forgot to take a picture of the bear and it sold at church. 

My friend Nancy A told me about a one day craft fair in Claremont at the end of October. She and I decided we would like to have a booth.  We had to send pictures of the items we wanted to sell before we were asigned a space. I had quite a bit of inventory built up, backpack knit with cotton yarn.

  It sold for $60.oo.  Then there were some furry fairies.

I had two and they both sold.  And then there were the pumpkins.

I knit twenty pumpkins in 3 different sizes.  I used two strands of knit picks fingering weight wool in different color combinations, i-cord stem in two strands of various greens and one strand for the leaves.  Not only did I sell alot at the fair but my friend Nancy sold a bunch of them for me at the yarn shop.  She suggested I write out the pattern for sale also which I did and she sold them for me too. 

Ann Marie the owner of The Skien always gets some really interesting knitting items in her shop.  There were quite afew of us that knit these necklaces.

I got three necklaces out of the ball of yarn.  The first one I gave to my sister Gail.  The other two I gave to my cousin Joyce and my Auntie Claire.

Speaking of my cousin of Elliebelly fame, she emailed me about a knit-a-long she was starting on Ravelery and the only criteria was we had to use her yarn or yarn that was spun from her fiber.  Oh boy. She sent me some wool fiber which I spun into a 3-ply lace weight and what a perfect oppurtunity to use it.  I knit a very simple shawl (just garter stitch) which I could knit in traffic.

I love this shawl and I wear it all the time.

Another project that took alot of my time last year was an afghan that I started as a group project for Lake Ave. Church.  I had this idea that we could all knit squares for an afghan and then could raffle it and the proceeds would go the church foundation.  I especially wanted it to go towards sending some kids to camp.  The foundation works at a snails pace and hopefully they can figure out how to market it so we can get the maximum dollars for the kids.

All of us at The Skein (the skein gang)did the same thing. We made a beautiful afghan together and raffeled it off on December 10th and raised $1240.oo.  We have adopted the Foothill Unity Center food bank in Monrovia as our charity.  The donation of $1240.oo translated to $6000.00 worth of food which serves all the communites along the 210 freeway corridor, Pasadena, Monrovia, Arcadia, etc.

It was so much fun and we felt so great making a difference for those less fortunate that we are starting another one.  Plus we are also going to knit other items for them as well.

Now on to Christmas 2011. My friend Judith ordered four (4) furry fairies and wanted the star spangeled chicken I knit earlier in the year, plus she wants another chicken after the mad rush of Christmas is over.  My buddy Anthony asked me to knit a hat for his wife for Christmas.  I showed him afew of the hats I've knit and he chose Cully's hat.

I got his hat and all Judith's stuff knitted and then had a week to knit for the family.  Rick and I only gave items we made for Christmas which meant soap and knitted stuff.

My nephew Robert was kind of tough.  My Dad knit him a black and red scarf so I thought maybe a hat was in order.

I was kind of nervous about knitting for him because if it dosen't feel right he won't wear it (just like his uncle Rick).  It fit him perfect and his eyes sparkeled when he openned it up.  It was worth it.

I made two things for Kaitlin.  Her birthday is on December 19th. For her birthday I knit her a scarf.

Her Christmas present was a little beaded ipod purse/holder.

This was a free pattern from Knitters Brewing Company.  Really cool pattern with lots of detail.  It looks pretty staight forward but there is alot more detail than meets the eye.

For Allison I knit her a little dog out of two strands of brown alpaca, Lucy the Labrador.

As always I had tons of fun knitting all this stuff and I work much better with a deadline.  I usually take off the week before Christmas so I can finish everything and everything was finished in plenty of time.

The other noteworthy item was the wind storm we had in December.  IT WAS RADICAL.  Strong winds were predicted starting on Wednesday.  When I left The Skein after knit night, I noticed the winds were blowing but not to bad.  I got home about 8:00pm and by 8:30 all hell had broken lose.  In all my years of sailing I have never experienced wind like that and I have been in some pretty radical storms during that time.  The transformers started exploding, trees were coming down, peoples roofs were getting blown off and on and on it goes.  Our dogs and cats were very nervous and it was impossible to sleep because the noise from the wind was so intense.  Our house is really old and we had to put socks in all the windows to keep them from ratteling or blowing open.  At first light we noticed that one of our avacado trees had all but come down, and our neighbor Louise's tree had broked in two spots and was blocking the street. 

Both ends of our street were blocked and the news was advising people to stay home because there were so many power lines and trees down.  The strange thing was it was pretty much localized in the San Gabriel valley but Pasadena and Altadena were the hardest hit.  Our street was blocked for 8 days which didn't bother me at all. It meant no ambulance traffic or any other kind of traffic and it was so nice.  Our street wasn't fully cleared until afew weeks ago and let me tell you.  All the workers did a fantastic job despite what the media was saying.  We appreicated everything they did and an added benefit was that we had a litter of baby bunnies at the time and Rick was able to get afew of them a new homes. The other cool thing was that it brought all of the neighbors together.  We all helped each other out with tools or anything that was required.  Rick and I were really lucky because we never lost power.  But most of our neighbors didn't have any power for about a week.

One last item to share.  I love these socks.  One of the shipments from the Socks that Rock group from Blue Moon.

I have three project on the needles right now.  The gal at church who bought the pengiuns, ordered a fox.  His name is Henery and all his parts are knit including his sweater and pants.  Just need to sew the little bugger together.

I'm knitting a sweater for Rick.  This is his design.  He bought me a book for Christmas with 200 fair isle patterns and he put something together which knit up really nice as a swatch.  We found a pattern in worsted weight but naturally he wants it in a fingering weight alpaca that I got from Peru.  Design time again.  I don't mind, it puts my mind to work and I love the challange. 

Last is some socks I'm knitting for Pop for his birthday.  Hopefully he won't see this post.  Everything on the needles right now is boring ss stitch, so to make it a little more challanging, I'm knitting contential style.  It dosen't seem to be affecting the gauge which I was a little worried about. Pictures to follow on next post.  I also need to share the Seafoam cardigan I finished that was a Super Bowl KAL from last year.

Keep knitting.

 

  

 

 

 

Happy 4th of July

 
 
Ok, I know its been six months since my last post, but once you read and see what I've been doing, you'll understand. Just to refresh from my last post (end of January), myself and a wonderful woman I met at church have been trying to start a knitting group.  Our goal was and still is to make knitted items that we can sell with all proceeds going to the church foundation for the various groups that they are involved in.

With that in the back of my mind I saw a really cute pattern at The Skien for knitted rabbits which would be perfect for Easter.  So I knit a pair.

 
 

I put them on the table at Church where we have all the "Cards for a Cause".  They weren't on the table for 10 minutes before the sold.

 
I knit this little bunny for a guy at work.

 
Bunny work shop.

 
 
 
 
 
 
I knit these two little bunnies with sock weight yarn. Quite a bit smaller than the ones knit in worsted weight. I gave them to my nieces, Kaitlin and Allison for Easter.

 
I knit the big bunny in the center for Rick's Dad.  He was in the hospital for a while and I thought it would cheer him up.  

I knit twenty two rabbits total, 19 of which sold at the church.  I loved knitting them,  when you put the face on they just come alive.  So I started exploring other knitted toys and came upon a englishman by the name of Alan Dart.  He designs and knits the most awesome toys.  He has a web site where you can download his patterns at a very resonable prices. 

The first toy I knit was called Star Spangled Chicken.

 
 

All the parts knit up.  Dosen't look like much now.

 
 
Shaping up pretty well. I work alot outside at our picinic table.  My Dad and Rick make this project together out of redwood and all bronze fasteners that cost way more than the wood.  But honestly it looks so nice and it is my favorite place to be.  In our backyard under the shade of the lemon tree, listening to the zebra finches and morning dove in our avary.  We also have a resident pair of blue jays that hang out in our yard taking advantage of the bird bath and the few left over kibbles from Tucker and Trolly's bowls.

 

Chicken leg in progress.

 
Cock-a-doodle-doo.  He is finished.  It was more time consuming putting him together than knitting the parts, but well worth it.

With project finished and under my belt, I thought I would try another one of his patterns. Furry Fairies.

 
These little creature are about 3". All of Alan Darts patterns are knit in DK weight yarn with #2 needles.  I knit another one with a purple skirt but forgot to take a picture. 

Only other knitty thing to share is a knit-a-long from Super Bowl Sunday in conjuction with Interweave Knits. If memory serves me correctly its called Seafoam cardigan.

 

I bought the yarn two years ago at sock summit.  The project is almost finished, working on the ribbing band, k4 - p2, for 4 inches on over 300 stitches.  Its gotten to hot to work on it, will take up again soon.

NOW FOR SOMETHING SUPER COOL.  Rick, my Dad and I took a soap making class in mid May at Pasadena City College.  We really enjoyed it at Rick fell in love with making soap.  We decided to start a little company.  Rick would make the soap, I would package it and knit cotton washclothes, and Pop would make little wooden boxes and also knit washclothes. 

Our company was born and we names it MERLIN'S MAGICAL SOAPS AND CRAFTS.  Rick did alot of research on the net and found a source for high quality soap bases, essential oils and coloring. After a very short learning curve, he started churning out the most beautiful soaps.

 
 
 

Our soap bases are vegtable base gylcerin, available in clear, shea, and goats milk.  We have made some sales so far, mostly friends of mine.

My friend Judith ordered a bunch of mini soaps for a party she had at her house.

 
My friend Bill's wife has ordered afew things and just yesterday Bill left a message that a friend of his wifes wanted to order a large bar of African Musk and a 3-pack of mini soaps in Rose.

My boss ordered to gift baskets for his wife and mother.  Each basket contained a bath salt, large bar, 2 mini bars and a hand knit washcloth. Both soaps were done in purple and white and the scents were bamboo lily and hawaiin plumeria.

 
Rick has been talking with people all over the place and the reception has been a little overwelming.  Our first wholesale basket is going up the street to a barbershop where Rick knows the owner.  Can't wait to get the feedback from the owner and his customers.

 
Its kind of funny how everything is evolving.  Our dining room and kitchen has turned into a soap factory and our tiny garage has turned into the packing, basket making area.

 
 
So now I have three jobs, my full-time employment at Llewellyn, my knitting business and last but not least, Merlin's Magical Soaps and Crafts.

One last cool item, I'm going to Sock Summit at the end of July.

Until next time.........

 

 

 

 

JANUARY 30 2011

January is almost finished and all the stars are lining up.  Lots of things in the works.  I'm trying to set up a knitting group at the church Rick and I started attending.  It's kind of a slow process but I think it will work out.  We want to do some sort of community outreach program as well as knitting little items to sell.  At present I'm knitting some little dish clothes to sell in the courtyard before the services.

 
 
 
 
 
I have afew more in progress, but I must say they are fun and quick to knit and there are so many possibilities.

Last year I started an Enterlac sweater. I shared the start of it many months ago.  I finally finished it inbetween all the other projects I had going.  The bulk of the sweater was finished except for the pockets.  For some reason that took the longest.  It was well worth the wait.

 
 
 
I changed the sleeves a little by adding a cuff and I think I will knit a belt also.

Last fall we had our first group class at The Skein.  It was a intarsia class.  Our teacher Nancy came up with a cute design for a paw print.  I took the pattern and made a pillow for Allison's birthday.

 
 
 
I used some kitty quilting fabric for the back which tied the whole project together.

I have been telling you about all the alpaca yarn I have been getting from Peru.  Bill's wife and her relatives have been so kind, picking out and shipping all the yarn, three shipments altogether.  I knit Tonia a pair of slipper socks which will doesn't even come close to repaying them for all their efforts.

 
 
I used some of the yarn from the last shipment.  100% alpaca fingering weight yarn.  The pattern is honeycomb and the suede bottoms are my own idea. I knit another pair of slipper socks using the campfire pattern also with suede bottoms and everyone seems to really like them.

My cousin had some of her friends spin some fiber for her and I wanted to get in on the fun also.  My Aunt was going back for a visit around Hallowen and when she returned she brought me the fiber.

 
Joyce is an incredible dyer.  I love eveything she does. I started spinning right away but Christmas projects needed to be completed so I had to take alittle break.  Once the Christmas rush was over I started spinning in overdrive. I wanted to make a 3-ply sock/lace weight yard.  I filled up 6 bobbins then started plying.  Ended up with 572 yards of 3-ply and the last skein was 237 yards of 2-ply. I liked the way it turned out and I sent to her mid-January. Hope she likes it also and can't wait to see what she creates with it.

 

I actually used some of my hand spun yarn for a birthday gift for my sister. A pair of flip-flop socks.

 
The cool thing is that you can also use them for hand warmers.

Last item to share is the Vilia socks I'm currently knitting.  It is a Cookie A pattern which means alot of very intricate stitch patterns.  I'm using some yarn I got from Blue Moon.  I love all their yarn.  Has alot of twist and all the socks I have knit with their yarn wear very well with a minimum of pilling.

 
Can't wait to finish the second sock.  I tried on the first one and it fits perfect.

 
Trucker and Trolley playing with their stuffed doggie.  Thats alot of dog flesh.

 
Good ole' Trucked all tuckered out from playing with Trolly.  She is really a handful even for him.

 

January 15, 2011

Where has all time gone? Starting about October everything is just one big blur of getting ready for the holidays.  I was comissioned to knit five different hats, three for friends of mine and two for friends of Rick's.

 
This hat was for my friend and fitness coach Perla.  I knit the same hat for my friend Susan along with another one I forgot to take a picture of. 

 
This hat was knit for the wife of one of Rick's friends.  Mike is Rick's former boss and they still do some work together.  They were looking at yarn on the internet and Rick took the first sweater I knit him to show Mike the basket weave pattern.  They didn't find anything on the internet so I suggested they go to The Skein where I hang out on Wednesday nights.  They chose a cranberry alpaca and Rick talked me into using some of my hand spun 3-ply grey alpaca.  Mike wanted the hat really thick because they go skiing alot during the winter.

 
I knit this stocking cap for Rick's friend Terry's Dad.  It is also alpaca and the grey is my hand spun.  I took a week off in October and another week in December and had to spin some more grey.  I was kind of under the gun so to speak because I had to have both hats finished before Christmas and it takes time to spin especially if your making 3-ply yarn.  It turned out really nice and soft, just perfect for those Kansas winters.

I knit two more hats just for fun.

 
 
 
I'm keeping both of these.

The only Christmas presents I knit this year were two scarfs, one for my Mom and other for my Aunt.  We are all fans of the Outlander series and I found an Outlander knit a-long from the Knitters Brewing Company.  They hand dyed yarn for the four different clans in the story.  If the your gauge is correct a plaid pattern unfolds as the scarf is knit.  First scarf drove me a little crazy, but the second one was a little easier.

 
This scarf was for my Aunt.

 
I gave this one to my Mother.

I knit some really cute head bands for my nieces.

 
 
Allison with here head band.

 
Kaitlin with her head band.

 

 
A picture of some of the crazyness during the holidays.  Baked tons of cookies for friends, family and work.  As you can see at the end of the table, knitting the headbands inbetween batches in the oven.

All for now.  I have some other things to share but I'm pressed for time and will have to continue in afew days, hopefully tomorrow.  I promise I won't wait three months.

October 17, 2010

It's a grey rainy sort of day in Altadena and I'm sure in the rest of the So Cal area.  Great for staying indoors, making cookies and of course knitting while hubby watches foothball.

Trolly was six month old on the 13th.  We had a horrible incident with Trolly about a month ago.  We took the dogs for a hike on the trail by Jet Propulsion Laboratory.  It is a wonderful trail with a little stream, and lots of people take advantage of it.  The day was beautiful.  We stopped at the stream and took of their leashes.   Trucker went it in right away.  He loves going in the water when he gets a little hot and lying down.  Trolly was more cautious.  It took her a little longer to get up the courage it get her paws wet.  Once she realized nothing bad was going to happen, she started following Trucker up and down the stream and generally having a great time. 

We let them play around for awhile, then headed back down the trail.  We were almost to the part of the trail where the asphalt starts and put their leashes back on.  Not more than afew minutes after that we noticed a couple coming up the trail with their dogs on leases, one dog was a pit bull.  I had Trucker and Rick had Trolly.  I was walking ahead a little and when we passed the other couple and their dogs, their pit bull attacked Trolly and got her around the neck.  The guy holding the pit just seemed to stand there frozen not doing what to do.  Rick was trying to get the dogs apart because Trolly was being sufficated by the pit with his lockable jaws around her neck.  Rick started punching the pit and nothing happened.  I was trying to hold Trucker away from the fray.  I looked up and saw blood all over Rick's hand and had visions of Trolly's neck ripped open by the Pit and I started freaking out.  Trucker started howling and after much punching and kicking by Rick the Pit finally realeased Trolly.  The guys girlfriend was also helping Rick.  She also had blood on her hand which she said was from Trolly.  Needless to say Trolly had the wind knocked out of her for afew seconds, then she got up and seemed to be fine with no puncture marks on her neck (thank you Lord).  Rick on the other hand was really a mess and I was afraid he was going into schock.  The nuckle on his index finger on his right hand was pretty mangled by the Pit bite and he thought the side of his right had was broken due to punching the Pit in head.  Plus he had a puncture wound on his left hand and a long scratch on his left arm. 

After exchanging phone numbers with the people, we took the dogs home, made sure they were ok and high tailed it over to Kaiser on Sunset Blvd. in Hollywierd. We spent a couple of hours there making sure Rick was ok.  They took exrays of his hand and it wasn't broken and they also wanted to leave his index finger unstitched until Monday when he had to go back for a rabies shot they forgot to give him on Sunday.  Bottom line was he didn't need stitches, but his hand was so swollen and he was in alot of pain. 

He had a big station to test on Tuesday in Beverly Hills so I took the day off to help him because he couldn't write and there is so much paperwork that needs to be filled out when performing all the different tests required. It took us about five hours to complete everything and for me it was really fun.  It was the first time I had ever been with Rick while he is working and it was an eye openning experience for me.  He works his tail off. Always moving, so much information crammed in his brain, talking with the AQMD inspector who showed up to witness the tests.  It gave me a whole new appreciation for the work he does.  He is directly responsible for making our air as clean as it can be.  He takes his business very seriously, what could be a better vocation than that?

Since Rick's business has been really slow, he decided to do some painting inside the house.  Last summer I had started painting my room.  Accomplished stripping one window and painting half the room.  I totally ran out of steam on the project plus I wasn't to crazy about the wall color.  What I really wanted was PURPLE walls and white trim.  Rick picked out the color and agreed to paint the walls, base boards and door trim, if I would finish the other windows.  That sounded fair.  It was finished in about two weeks and what with alot of reorganizing of closets and other stuff, I got my room painted and just the way I want it. 
 
 

 

 
 

 
 
I love my room, its small but I have all my books, fiber, wheels, and yarn all in one place.  If the room was a little bigger, all my fabric when be in there as well.  It has a nice dry place in Rick's garage. 

But, check this out.  The view from by back window. 

 
Is that cool or what? 

I finished the cubist socks.

 
  About three weeks ago our Wednesday night knitting group, The Skein Gang had an intarsia class taught by Nancy.  The class project was a dog paw print which was part of a Christmas stocking for dogs.  It was really fun and I picked up some new techniques.  I showed the paw print to Rick and he suggested I make a pillow for our niece Allison. This is my version of the design.

 
I made a small pillow filled with some alpaca fiber that is to coarse, but worked great for stuffing.  Then made the case with the paws and bones on one side and some really cute fabric for the back.  Like a bone head I forgot to take a picture of the finshed project but we are going to Allison's family birthday party this afternoon so I will have afew pictures to post next time of the birthday girl with her pillow.

I 'm finally sending two pairs of sock and two helmet liners to the Sock for Soldiers group that I knit for.  All that knitting is done on horendous commute to work and back.  I picked up some tolietries from Target and hopefully getting some drawings and/or letters from my nieces to include with the package.  I have more yarn coming for three pairs of socks and all the left overs are knit into helmet liners.

 

The beginning of October I started two more pair of socks; Honeycomb socks(Kattie Himmelberg design) for my friend Bill's wife.  Knit using the alpaca I got from Peru.  Vilia socks (Cookie A design) for myself using yarn from the Socks that Rock group.  I also started working on some Christmas presents but I won't be able to share any of the pictures until after the holidays due to the fact that the only people that I think read my blog are family members and I want the gifts to be a suprise. 

I knit a really cute pair of flip flop socks for my sister's birthday but still need to take a picture.  I spun and dyed the yarn myself and I thing they turned out really nice.

My enterlac sweater is almost finished, need to knit about three more inches on the ribbing, ten inches total over 349 stitches, takes a while. 

My spinning is progressing.  The grey alpaca fleece I mentioned last time has progressed to about 500 yards of 3-ply yarn.  I combed some more fleece yesterday.  Rick wants me to knit him another stocking cap.  I can't wait to start knitting with the yarn, I think it is the best I have done so far.  All the spinning videos are starting to pay off.   It really is a long process but well worth it.  Every time I start spinning I somehow feel connected to all the people in the past who first invented making yarn for knitting or weaving.  It's kind of hard for me to articulate the feeling, a sense of connectedness to the past. 

September 11, 2010

 
 Our new puppy Trolley is growing by leaps and bounds.  She looks bigger everyday. I have been training her to run with me and so far she is doing really well.  We have been running around the Rose Bowl every Sunday and she loves it.  It is also helping her socialize with other dogs which was really a problem afew month ago.  She knows how to sit and stay which is pretty good for a 5 month old puppy. I think her best pal is Tristen, our new kitten we got at the same time. They play together all the time and it is so cute.

I love all our animals so much.  Thanks to my parents we had all kinds of pets when we were growing up and I have continued that tradition all through my adult life.  Although I complain about the work sometimes, I can't imagine not having them in my life.

I have accomplished quite a bit sunce my last post.  I openned my little store on Etsy and sold a pair of baby socks to my cousin.  There is alot to consider when you have a web based buisness and since I also work full time it takes me a while to figure everything out. 

 

This is the Commuter Backpack I knit from a book called Green Knitting by Ann Budd. I used Sugar and Cream 100% cotton and lined the pack for more stability.  I love the way the pack turned out and I'm going to put in my store. 

 

I knit another pair of Campfire socks for the wife of one of Rick's clients. I love this pattern.  This will be the fourth pair I've knit.

I used two strands of alpaca that I got from my friend Bill who has a Peruvian wife.  I sewed on the suede bottoms hence the term slipper socks.  I am going to knit another pair for Bill's wife.  Her relatives have been kind enougth to send me alot of yarn on their many trips back to Peru.  I'm not sure I'm going to use the Campfire pattern, probably something a little more feminine with more stitch patterns, but I will put on a suede sole for wearing around the house.

My friends Nancy, Patty and I are all knitting this sock.  The name of the pattern is Cubist socks by Cookie A.  Like all her designs, there are some pretty intricate stitch patterns.  I'm using a yarn that I got from The Socks that Rock club, colorway Sweet Pea.  I love the way the patten unfolds.

The Socks that Rock club from Blue Moon in really cool.  You get five shipment with yarn, two different patterns and dyers notes.  I didn't like the patterns included in the June package (at least not for that yarn) but I think it looks great in the Cookie A pattern.

Afew weeks ago I took a week off to burn up some vacation time.  I did a lot of spinning.

My cousin dyed this roving.

Spun all of the roving into singles and then plyed three singles together. My first time making 3-ply.  I've done two ply before but OMG, 3-ply is so much better.

I just have a little more to ply and plan of knitting a pair of socks or maybe a small shoulder shawl.  Thanks Joyce for the beautiful roving.

I am also in the process of spinning some gray alpaca fleece I got from my friend in Agua Dulce.  I have two bobbins filled and working on the third. It takes alittle longer because I have to process the fleece myself which involves washing and combing before spinning.

I don't know how to express how awesome it is to spin the grey fleece.  It is so soft and spins so nice, I guess you could say is't like spimming clouds.

My knitting friends and I took a train trip to Santa Barbara for the day.

It took a couple of hours to get there. 

We had such a great time.  It took a couple of hours to get there.  Can you imagine all that uninteruped knitting time?  Thats when I started the Cubist socks.  The train lets you off in downtown Santa Barbara.  We walked the boulevard, ate lunch at a mexican resturant called Sharkey's which was really funny because Malia's last name is Sharky.  Before we knew it we had to walk back to the station to go home. We all agreed we needed more time so next time we will probably drive.  Our gang meets al least once a week at the LYS and quite often on Saturday at one of the local cafes.  We enjoy each others company so much..

As all of you know, I Father is also an accomplished knitter.  He has been knitting since he was a little boy in England.  He was taught by the Nuns when he was in the hospital.

He desins all his own patterns.  For the last year or so he has been knitting socks of his own design.  He likes the worsted weight best and has come up with a really cool and unconvential way to do the heel, but it works.  He knit me a pair and they are some of my favorite socks. He is going to put some in my store also.  He is working on "winter socks for men" with some wool he bought from Knitpiks.   

 
  
 
 
 

July 25, 2010

My brother is in town on vacation from Anchorage Alaska.  We have been having a lovely time, going on walks, sharing meals together and hanging out.  The other night Mat Brown ( family friend) and Mark played open mike at the Coffee Galery in Altadena.  We went to hear him play.  My sister, afew of her friends, Mama and Bill Manely(another family friend) came also.  They were really great.  Mark and Mat have been playing together for about 40 years.  The other acts were pretty bad but you really have to give them credit for getting up in front of people and performing.  The owner of the Coffee Galery asked Mark and Mat to perform on the Backstage where they charge admission.  To bad Mark dosen't live here.

On my last post I shared about our new puppy Trolly and the reasons for getting her.  Well the time came for Trudy to go to heaven.  It was really, really hard but the blow was softened by Trolly and the kind caring people ant Vanderhoof's. 

Rick got some bully sticks for the dogs yesterday.

 

Good old Trucker.

Little miss Trolly, she is such a little poser.

It's so nice that they get along so well.

I launched a little store on Etsy. The name is "Smitten by knitten, a family tradition". So far I have four items posted. It's kind of fun, who knows what will happen or where it will lead.  I wanted "a family tradition" in the title because other people in our family could also post items for sale.

Now for the knitting projects.

I knit another pair of Campfire socks for the wife of one of Rick's Clients. 

Two strands knit together, 100% alpaca and alpaca acrylic blend.  Both yarns from Peru. I am going to sew on a suede bottom, but only on the sole.

My friend Katie gave me a great book entitled "Green Knitting".  We are both knitting the Commuter Backpack.

This part is the bottom and sides.  I finished that part yesterday and started on the back.  I love this backpack and plan on putting it in my store on Etsy.  I have some other yarn (alpaca of course) that I think would knit up really nice for this pattern too.

Last post I spoke a little bit about a stocking cap I knit using some of my hand spun alpaca.  

Pattern is based on a helmet liner from the Socks for Soldiers group I belong too. The dark brown is the handspun, the light brown is alpaca/acrylic blend from Peru. I put this hat in my store.

Have to go now.  My brother is having a party this afternoon and I am making stuffed potatoes.  Need to get cracking.

 
 
 
 
 
 

 

Where has the time gone?

 

.

 
  
I can't believe it has been two months since my last post.  The weeks are flying by at an alarming rate. 

We had to take our female mastif Trudy to the vet about a month and a half ago because she didn't seem like she was feeling well.  She had been overweight and we had put her on a diet and tried to excercise her more, but she seemed to run out of steam rather quickly on our walks and was losing more weight that she should.

We went to see Dr. V up the street from our house and after afew visits it was determined that she had an irregular heart beat and has an enlarged heart.  Fluid was collecting in her lungs.  The Doc put her on a direritic but he explained that this condition is very common for large dogs and there is nothing that can be done except make her as comfortable as possible and hope the medication gets rid of some of the fluid.  The pills seemed to be working and she seemed a little improved, but she didn't have much of an appitite and we had to start mixing canned food in with the kibble to get her to eat. 

I have been through the loss of a dog once before and it is horrible.  Not only is it extremely hard on the humans but the remainging dog really suffers as well.  Rick and I decided to get another mastiff puppy so Trucker would have a companion when the time came for Trudy. 

Rick found a family in Valencia that had a litter of French Mastiff puppies so we took a drive to see them. 

There is nothing cuter on this planet than mastiff puppies.  The momma dog had 13 puppies and I wish we could have taken all of them, but our heart was drawn to one of the girl puppies who just happened to be the biggest in the litter.

We named her Trolly because she was a big as a trolly car.  We brought her home June 4th.  Afew days before I brought home a little kitten we named him Tristen. 

It only took afew days before Trolly and Tristen were best buds.

We now live in a complete mad house, three dogs, three cats and our birds in the avary.  Everybody gets along great but it really gets crazy at times.

I wish I could have a video camera going 24/7.  There are so many kodak moments each and every day.  The puppy and kitten have brought so much joy into our lives.  It is really amazing how  all these creatures get along so well.  So fun to watch them play and learn the skills they will need when they get older. 

Believe it or not I have actually done a little bit of knitting in between the care of the new babies.

I knit these baby booties to go along with a sweater my Mom knit for our hairdresser who had her first baby in December. 

These sock were the first in The Rockin' sock club.  They are called Cascadia.  Really fun knit.

Second sock from Rockin' sock club called Slip Jag.  I love the yarn they send for the socks.  Really cool club.  You get two patterns to choose from and dyers and designers notes are included in a beautiful format. I have received the yarn for the third pair but haven't started yet.

These socks are the first in Six-Soc yahoo group.  I am especially proud of these socks because I spun and dyed the yarn myself.  The roving was purchased last year at Sock Summit and is the first time I have knit any of the yarn I have spun.  I was afraid they would fall apart, but I have worn them, they feel great and didn't fall apart. 

I started and finished this stocking cap using two strands KTOG.  The dark brown in 100% alpaca that I spun myself.  Got the fiber from my friends Alpaca ranch in Agua Dulce.  The lighter brown is direct from Peru, an alpaca acrylic blend. The pattern is from Socks for Soldiers and is the offical helmet liner pattern.  Makes a great stocking cap.  I'll post pic of finished cap next post.

My enterlac sweater is chugging along.  I have finished the back, fronts and I'm knitting the sleeves.  My friend and mentor Nancy who teaches at the LYS showed me how to knit backwards which is a real time saver when knitting enterlac.  Half way through the second front piece I had memorized the progression of the pattern. I love enterlac and plan on knitting a pair of socks also.

I got another shipment of yarn from my contact in Peru.

I couldn't believe all the colors.  There are two of each color, 100% alpaca.  I have never seen any yarn like this in all the yarn shops and on-line stores that I frequent.  I have plans for alot of it, but plan on selling some to afew of ny buddies.
 

afew more pictures to share that will warm the heart.

Pround Papa.

All for now.  Have to take care of all the babies.
 
 

   
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

May 9, 2010

Afew weeks ago Iwas asked by my friend Ceclia who owns Sweet Water Alpaca ranch if I would be interested in helping with the annual shearing.  I was very interested. I was going to visit my Aunt that day but she understood and we rearranged the visit for Sunday instead.

I drove up to Agua Dulce Saturday morning arriving at 9:00am.  There were a little over thirty alpacas that needed shearing so we started right away.  Brett did the shearing with his friend helping and one of the fellow volunteers held down the alpacas necks.

The crias (babies) where done first.  I think there maybe eight in varing ages.

The first shearing of the crias isn't kept.  They are the cutest creatures on the planet.

My job consisted of picking up the sheared fiber and putting it plastic bags.  The best fiber is from the back and hind quarters which goes in a bag by itself with the name of the alpaca.  The fiber from the neck and legs goes in a seperate bag also identified with the name of the alpaca.  Since the alpacas are tied down, its also a good time to trim nails or teeth and give a needed shots.

We worked until around noon and took a break for lunch.  It was a beautiful day and most of us ate outside.  After lunch we moved the shearing operation into a little shed because the wind had started blowing.  My job in there in addition to gathering the back fiber was to sweep up really fast so the fiber from the next alpaca wouldn't be contaminated.

Most of the alpacas took to the whole process without to much of a fuss, but there were afew who got pretty upset and started spitting which was kind of gross. We finished all the shearing around 3:30ish.  It's a ton of work and we were all pretty tired and dirty, but it was a great feeling.  I was the only one there without an alpaca. Everyone else had ranches in the area coming together to help each other.  The sense of community is really strong with the ranchers up there.  That is one of the things I love about the area, the outside world dosen't seem so much in the forefront.  The priorty is the ranch and keeping all the animals and yourself healthy, making sure everything runs as smoothly as possible.  That is a life style I would like to experience someday.

 
 
 

 

April 18 2010

 
I have been sick with a nasty cold for the last week. I started feeling that little tickle in my throat last Monday, went to work Tuesday but only worked until noon.  I spent the rest of the week at home. Today is Sunday and I am still fighting it but am definetely on the mend.  I have to go back to work tomorrow and I really miss not working out especially training for the Mt. Wilson run.  We were going to start at Cross Fit Academy last week but that was postponed until tomorrow.  I hope I feel up to it. 

Even though I was sick and felt like crap, I got quite a bit of knitting accomplished.  Finished the first Snow drop sock.

I was outside knitting in the backyard with my Dad, had about an inch to go before finishing when I realized I was using #0 needles instead of #1.  Was really afraid the socks wouldn't fit and I didn't want them to be to tight thinking in my pea brain that the yarn might break because I spun it myself.  I'm such a silly duck.  The sock fits great not to tight and looks cool also. Started the second sock, finished the toe and starting on the foot.

I also finished my first Cascadia sock.

This sock fits great also.  Finished yesterday and started the second. Completed the toe, working on the foot.  I can't wait to start the second sock in the series.  Blue Moon really has some incredible yarn and patterns for their socks that rock group.

The other project I have been working on this week between blowing my nose and coughing is spinning the yarn for the second sock in the Six Sock group on Yahoo.

I bought the fiber at Sock Summit from Blue Moon.  Spinning and plying on my Ashford Joy wheel.

I have two wheels, the Ashford Traveler and the Joy.  For me, spinning on the Joy is more difficult which I think makes me a better spinner.  I am completely self taught and the other day I was reading an article on spinning fine yarn in Spin-off magazine.  I really felt I am starting to get it when I can read an article, can understand what the author is saying and apply the technique to what I am doing and see how it makes a difference.

I love the colors in this fiber.  I didn't really have a project in mind until I plyed the yarn.

KInd of hard to see from the pictures, but I tried to ply with alot of twist and I loved the way it turned out. Once I saw the yarn plyed, I knew it would be perfect for the second Six-Sock project.  It is called faggoting rib sox with ruffle.  It has some beads in the cuff and I think this yarn I made will be perfect. 

I must say that during the height of my cold I tried spinning and the stars where not in the proper alignment.  I fiber kept breaking, had to blow my nose, fiber kept breaking, etc. After about an hour I gave up but tried the next day and everything worked great except my nose and coughing.  Thank goodness for Robitussin cough/cold formula.

And for anyone at work who reads my blog, yes I have also been working on our catalog revision.  This is an enormous project.  I did our first catalog several years ago and now it needs to be updated.  It is almost harder doing the revision than starting from scratch, but I'm plugging away on it and am making alot of progress.  I had to cancel a meeting with our catalog person, but now I have more to give him than I did last week.  I will probably have to work at the shop all next week instead of working one to two days at home on the catalog.  Oh well, it keeps a roof over our heads and plenty of yarn and fiber.  What could be better that that?

April 11, 2010

Just like last week, expecting rain by tonight into Monday.  Kind of last for Socal but without the rain we wouldn't have the flowers that are blooming all over the city.

I love wisteria.  This is the view outside the kitchen window.  Just beautiful. The roses are blooming again and the colors are so bright especially on these cold cloudy days.

The bogenvilla is also in bloom in our driveway going up the house.  Afew years ago we hade a mockingbird nest nestled inside.  The parents were always terrorising the dogs and cats whenever they got to close.
This is my favorite time of year. 

Last weekend I ran in the Santa Anita Derby 5K. I have run the race three years in a row.  I love the course. Start out in back of the track, run thru the Arboretum, back to the track and finish running on the actual track where the horses run.  It is a fast paced race open to all age groups.  I run in the Masters race, 50 and above.  I ran with Team Crossfit and felt I really had to perform.  Although the race is only 3.2 miles, the first mile is always the hardest for me.  Once I get in the grove I feel great, just need the endorphines to kick in.  There was a gal from Crossfit running ahead of me and I was trying to pace with her, but after awhile she overtook me.  I really poured it on the whole race and ended up finishing first place in my age catagory.  I won a pair of running shoes and got afew other goodies as well, two water bottles and a hat.  Really felt great.
Yesterday I ran with a bunch of people from Crossfit, training for the Mount Wilson race at the end of May. We ran three 2 mile loops in Sierra Madre.  My time was  pretty good, 50 minutes and change.  I love running and working out.  I'm starting tomorrow morning with Team Crossfit in Monrovia.  Perla is transferring her bootcamp there and I will probably be cancelling my membership at the gym I currently attend.  After the run I came home, Rick went to the track and I put on a crockpot of beans and ham bonen for dinner, cleaned house and did laundry for about two hours, went to the post office, had to get dog food, went to Trader Joe's and Von's, then back home, put everything away and was totally pooped out. Then in was off to Starbucks for a venti dirty soy chai with a triple shot before arriving at the Corner Bakery for Knit in Public.  The Skein gang meets there every second Saturday of the month (and sometime more) for a couple hours of knitting. Judith, Katie, my Dad and myself where in attendance.  We had a great time.  Judith had never met my Dad and we had a lovely time listening to him tell about his childrens stories.

I have three project I'm working on. My friend Katie is knitting the most beautiful entrelac shawl.  I love it and wanted to try the technique. Afew weeks ago at knit night, a gal was starting a new project and it was an entrelac sweater from Plymouth yarns.  That was what I was waiting for.  I bought the yarn and the pattern and started last week.  I got stuck at the beginning mostly because I couldn't visualize where the pattern was going.  Katie set me straight and now it is full steam ahead.
  It looks complicated but really pretty simple.

Afew posts ago I shared some yarn that I spun and dyed.  I started knitting the Snow drop socks at the end of March.  First pattern of the year for the Yahoo Six Sock group.  They are turning out pretty nice but I can see the advantage of plying the yarn, evens out the highs and lows, but I still like the way they look.

In a moment of insanity I joined the Rockin Sock Club.  Started knitting the Cascadia socks a week before the Snow drop socks.  Both pair of sock are toe up. I used the figure eight cast on for the Cascadia and the Snow drop socks where started by casting on eight stitches, then picking up eight more stitches on the bottom side of the eight stitches.  I liked that method better. 

After finishing the foot and heel, the leg is knit with two differnt charts.  Front stays the same, but back is a whole different stitch pattern. I haven't knit enought to show up in a picture, give me a week and I'll share, so far it looks really cool.  I have already received the yarn for the next sock in the series. OMG,  can't wait to start that one too.  I also have the next pattern for the Yahoo group and another mystery sock to start from Knitters Brewing Company. Plus my continuing Socks for Soldiers, a group I joined last November.  A Yahoo group that knits socks and helmet liners for soldiers in Iraq and Afganistan.  I sent the first pair to my friends son who was deployed in January. Second pair is finished except for closing the toe on one.  Third pair started.  Its a fantasic group with several thousand members.  The emails back and forth are great to read with lots of helpful hints, a peak into the lives of the women participating and the highlight are the letters and pictures from the soldiers (women and men) who receive the knitted items.

The pattern we use is the official pattern for the military.  Very specific about the gauge, size needles, etc.  You start the cuff with size 3 needles.  Knit three rows in the specificed ribbing, change to size 1, finish the 4" of ribbing, continue in stockinette stitch for 4", switch to size 0, knit another 4" of stockinette, then start the heel.  Approximately half way throught the gusset decrease switch back to size 1, knit foot. Back to size 0 for the toe and kitchner stitch.  So far I have used the olive drab.  Have enough yarn for one more pair, plus helment liners with all the partial balls.  Next batch of yarn I want to do in camo.

I knit this hat for Susan.  She is one of my bootcamp buddies.  She designed by business cards and didn't charge me anything, so this is her thank you gift.

When I saw her on Friday she told me she took her hat to work and shared with some of her friends. She wants me to knit her afew more in different colors and some of her friends might want to order some

also.  My friend Perla suggested I put together a price list which I think

 is a really good idea. This is how I want to start my knitting business.  Knitting items for people I know and then branching out.  Who knows where it will lead, but it is definetly on the bucket list. 

Thats all for now.  Back to knitting on the Entrelac sweater.  Knitting is the only thing that keeps me sane is this crazy mixed up world.