Half Baked

oops.

2011-03-03T15:44:00.003-07:00

Well, hello there. It seems I have inadvertently taken a leave of absence from the blog - this is partly thanks to other social media (twitter, facebook, flickr, ravelry and pinterest come to mind) -and also thanks to some changes in workload!

Fear not, I'm still crafting, though perhaps not in quite the same volume as I have managed historically. The newest things off the needles involved steeking (at along last!) - I did finish those socks that were on the needles back in June....

You can find more details on Ravelry.

I suspect this space may remain in limbo for a time, at least until things settle down a bit more - in the meantime, I leave you with proof of the steeking:

Ready

2010-06-07T17:44:00.001-07:00

Miraculously I don't seem to have that many active projects (though I suppose Ravelry would disagree...drat that evidence ;) ) Okay - in all fairness, I do not have any socks currently on the needles. In order to remedy that situation, I wound up this handspun and am ready to get to work! No particular pattern in mind, other than something that I hope will really show off the handspun nicely.

I recently received a couple books that might help with the inspiration and/or knitting process since I don't knit socks quite frequently enough to have heel turns memorized. The first is:

Toe-Up Socks for Every Body - this is the sequel to Wendy's original book: Socks from the Toe Up. While the socks in this book are really quite lovely - I especially like the wonderfully textured and patterened ones - none of them are really suitable for this handspun. I will likely use the book more for reference when it comes to knitting the gusset and turning the heel on these socks....but I'll certainly be back browsing this book when I have more subtly varigated yarn on hand for cast on. This book, unlike the first, is definitely more pattern focused rather than technique focused - though there are useful non-sock-specific notes included in each section. The patterns each feature a full page photo of the finished project and are charted appropriately. While there are a number of very feminine sock patterns included, there are also a number of patterns that will suit men just as well as women, in addition to some that are geared more towards children. In addition to the cabled and lace socks, there are also a number of patterns that feature colorwork - two of which I'm thinking of casting on for (the Norgwegian Rose socks and the Fair Isle socks).

The second book I received:
The Sock Knitter's Workshop - is definitely more of a technique book, featuring a number of techniques for different cast ons, cuffs, heels and toes. This book seems to focus on cuff down socks, though it does have a section dedicated to toe-up socks and modified instructions for various toe-up heel turns. In addition to the various techniques, there are tips to guide the knitter in selecting a specific style of heel or toe treatment for sock knitting given the intended wearer's foot peculiarities.

The book is full color and includes lots of clear photographs illustrating technique and showing the knitting in progress. The book finishes with a number of patterns varying in difficulty from beginner to advanced (all cuff down) - each pattern mentions which techniques it employs (in addition to providing a convenient page number reference). Although I have a marked preference for knitting my socks toe-up, this book looks like it will be a valuable sock knitting reference.

Perfect Timing

2010-06-05T17:20:00.000-07:00

Or maybe not...seeing as it's finished, just in time to be set aside for hot weather knitting.

I recently put the finishing touches on my last sweater for the season. It involved button try-outs...and these are the winners.

Here they are all sewn on. Curious to see what I knit? Head over here and see.

new sweater?

2010-06-02T17:49:00.000-07:00

Well...not for a while anyway....but that is the plan for all of this loveliness:

it will be a color progression sweater - likely a cardigan, since I seem partial to those, and probably something simple, all the better to showcase this stunning yarn. It's a sweatersworth, spun for me by Kiki as a gift. I am mulling over the potential projects but will likely not get started on this until it starts cooling down again. This is a blend of Turtle Cove and Outlaw colorways from Lisa over at Becoming Art. She dyes beautifully (and I'm addicted, which is one reason I haven't felt terribly compelled to fire up my own dye pots of late)

Fit to be plied.

2010-05-31T17:42:00.001-07:00

In more ways than one. I feel like someone has gone and started twisting various strands within my reality - but that is neither here nor there other than it rather delayed my update!

When I left you last, I left you with some rather enticing photographs of my many yards of singles wound onto a book. I should warn you that andean plying this quantity of yarn is not for the faint of heart - it also requires a LOT of patience and care - especially since the singles are still energized. It may be easier to spin from the center and outside of a center pull ball rather than attempt to ply from a bracelet....with all that said, I apparently was not thinking of the potential fiasco that could have been in the making and proceeded anyway.

Here I've carefully transferred the singles to my wrist - this is done by carefully sliding the singles over my hand while ever so carefully working the spatula free of the singles in addition to keeping track of the two free ends. Once the yarn is wrapped, I tied both ends of the yarn to my leader and away we went. It was a bit touch and go a few times, and certainly this was probably not as fast or smooth a ply-job as it would have been had I been plying off a pair of bobbins. There were some times when I thought for sure I would have to break the yarn - there were other times when the singles threatened to snarl into an unruly mess....

It seems my slow and steady approach was to be awarded though:

here is the yarn, freshly washed, whacked and dried. Some areas were not quite as evenly plied - but thus is the nature of handspun.

here is one side, once wound into a skein....

and here it is from the other side.
If you are wondering just how big a skein this is, you can see my fingers peeking out from underneath here.

It is 8 ounces of lovely yarn (~635 yards) - a blend of Targhee and superwash merino wools plus bamboo and nylon fibers. I actually blended two different colorways from Hello Yarn to make this finished skein - Grim (superwash merino, bamboo and nylon) and Garland (targhee). The yarn is semi-fractally spun. First I split each roving half lengthwise. Then I took one half of each and split those lengthwise into eighths. When spinning the singles, I spun the large 2 oz sections first - one after the other, then I finished off the fiber by alternating the smaller pieces from each colorway.

taking a break

2010-05-24T17:08:00.000-07:00

...from knitting...

...and based on the date of last publication, from blogging as well :P

In any case, I decided I needed to make some headway on the rather large pile of personal spinning fibers...so I grabbed a couple of bags from HelloYarn and split the fibers up for spinning, aiming for a thinnish single with plans to turn it into a 2-ply. After spinning, the jumbo bobbin was nearly full...and the singles, I thought, were rather lovely.

Normally when I make 2 plies, I wind everything into an andean plying bracelet and ply away until everything is done - I rarely ever split my singles onto two separate bobbins for plying, mostly because 1) I'm lazy and don't plan ahead and 2) I like making sure all of my singles are "consumed" and I honestly don't think I could balance my yardage out on separate bobbins. What I hadn't been thinking of, however, is the fact that I have never gone to the trouble to andean ply quite this much yarn before.

I at least had the foresight to wind onto something other than my hand - thanks to this post from Rosemary Knits that suggested the use of a book for winding on. As I was winding away in preparation, the foolishness of this idea began to sink in.

Behold: over 1200 yards of energized singles wound onto a book, ready to be transferred for plying. The sheer winding on process was enough to trigger some slight muscle soreness in my arms from holding the book out and the winding-on motion.

viewed from another angle, you can see the spatula I stuck into the book to take the place of my finger (had I been winding onto my hand). Clearly, if I had wound all this onto my hand, I would likely no longer have circulation in the hand, much less the finger....

stay tuned to see how it all turned out :)

Lucky me!

2010-05-07T18:35:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to get back to my wheel - it seems I always get distracted - so much to do in my spare time and spinning seems to get bumped easily. I had been contemplating some fiber from my HelloYarn fiber club shipment for a pair of socks for my husband but I'm not terribly good at spinning particularly fine - especially given that socks really should be knit from multi-ply yarn and not singles. It was a bit of a conundrum.

Kiki took pity on me and we arranged for a "spin" trade :) She'd spin my fiber for me, and I'd spin up some of her fiber for her! Her daughter wanted a thick squooshy chunky yarn - that I can do! So I spun this:

Becoming Art Love Love on superwash merino - 4 oz of navajo plied chunky goodness. While Kiki spun up my HelloYarn Loch into some stunning navajo plied fat fingering weight yarn!

I'm pondering sock patterns now, but I suspect the socks will be fairly simple in pattern to fully show off the gorgeousness of this handspun. Do you have any pattern suggestions??

Two Years

2010-05-05T18:34:00.001-07:00

in the making....f new finished object is off the needles :) I can't believe it took quite so long. What is it you ask? come over here and find out!

Final bits

2010-05-03T18:33:00.001-07:00

I adore this agave - I wish I knew what kind it was, as our large agave in the back yard is sprouting a huge stalk, which generally means it will be dying off soon. I adore this one for its contrasting edge on the foliage - it reminds me of a deckled tear on heavy paper.

I have no idea what these are, but they are tiny, and they make me happy.

These are a non-native cactus species - but the blooms remind me of sea anemones.

This is another look at a different type of agave -I adore the frosty leaves with spine impressions. That does it for the current round of macro photos...tho I have to admit to picking up a Lightscoop recently...and I've been chasing the cats around ever since...you know, to test it out! Photos of actual knitting, coming soon ;)

Macro-Mania continues...

2010-04-30T18:31:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure what kind of plant this is with these neat white flowers - I didn't even realize the main stalk was a highway for aphids or some other mite until I was editing the photos!

These are a pair of Julia butterflies perched happily on some sort of sunflower.

Blanket flower - I love how the petals have a flame-like gradation

And lastly some pink owl clover puffballs.

Ode To Spring

2010-04-28T18:29:00.000-07:00

continues over the next couple posts :) I hope you're not tired of the flowers yet!

Penstemon - I've always loved these flowers for their orchid-like shapes. This group looks like it's somehow singing :)

Globe mallow come in a variety of colors - though I haven't seen this golden hue in the wild before.

Nor have I ever seen golden hued lilies. The butterflies really liked these - but apparently their proboscis aren't long enough, since every time I caught a butterfly on one of these lovely flowers, it was busy trying to crawl deep inside, presumably to reach the nectar.

Also one of my favorites - Lupine

Spring

2010-04-26T18:27:00.000-07:00

is here, and that means wildflowers! Here are some favorite shots I captured while playing with the macro lens. First up, a bloom from a hedgehog cactus - spring is short here in the desert southwest, and this photo actually reminds me of the blazing heat of summer that is on the way.

This is a fairy duster - in some ways it reminds me of the crazy crown of feathers on some birds :)

Claret cup Cactuses are also in bloom.

Pink Globe Mallow - with a bee :) I'm happy to see the bees out and about doing their thing. I worry over the bees what with not yet understood phenomena of Colony Collapse Disorder.

yes....

2010-04-23T18:25:00.000-07:00

I chase butterflies...
what of it? :)
I recently had an opportunity to trot out my relatively new macro lens - I had a good time ogling flowers and chasing butterflies...hope you don't mind as the next week or so shall be an ode to spring via photos :)
This lovely is called a Malachite - I don't recall ever seeing a green hued butterfly before. There were also some really stunning lunar moths, but they were not sleeping in convenient places for photographs (apparently moths are indeed nocturnal and once they find a perch for the day, that's where they stay!)

The orange one in this photo is a Julia, the blue/black one is a Swallowtail, but I forget the specific variety.

Hope you all had a good Earth Day!

Spiketastic

2010-04-16T07:39:00.000-07:00

Not only are the wildflowers making an appearance, it seems the cactus blooms are well on their way also. These are Strawberry (or Engelmann's) Hedgehog cactus - they are are quite common in the desert area that I live, and are amongst the first cactus to begin blooming in the spring.

I love them for their bright splashes of color - I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of the desert blooms come to life over the next month or so!

Mother Nature knows Best

2010-04-14T18:23:00.000-07:00

fiddleneck & lupine

or she sure seems to have a good sense of color! The wildflowers are out (and will probably be providing lots of blog fodder for the next month or so....) For some reason (in the desert anyhow), the hillsides seem to get covered with a combination of blue/purple and yellow flowers. These are generally complementary in hue, and as a result I think they photograph wonderfully together.

poppies, lupine and fiddlenecks cover a local hillside

lone poppy over a field of desert bluebells

The flowers that I'm happiest to see out are the poppies....well, the poppies and the lupine - together they just make me smile. Happy Spring, everyone :D

Undulating

2010-04-12T22:38:00.000-07:00

Pre-blocking, lace always makes interesting topographies. As usual, I was amazed at how much this grew during the blocking/dressing process. For finished photos, pop over here.

Freshly Ruffled

2010-04-09T18:14:00.000-07:00

with beads! Freshly bound off the needles is a brand new red lace shawl (because I apparently am still stuck quite firmly in my red knitting phase) - This was a relatively fast knit, and the edging is really quite lovely. Straight off the needles, the shawl is very ruffly, and looks more shawl-ette sized....it's got a date with the sink and some pins though, so we'll see how it all turns out once everything is all said and done :D

Spring Sprung

2010-04-07T16:15:00.001-07:00

With the rather wet winter we've had here, the wildflowers are making a good showing this year :) these happen to be popping up in the neighbor's yard. I have to admit that while weeding, if it looks like a lovely wildflower, I leave it alone, figuring it'll die off soon enough and I'd like to enjoy the evidence of our short spring while I can!

Outdoor Exploration

2010-04-05T07:11:00.000-07:00

The weather here is beautiful, though rapidly heating up. We've been spending some time outdoors enjoying the weather...

The Young Miss of the house sits nicely for a Portrait

The cats have been joining us outside while we try to take on weed control (at least picking weeds out of gravel/sand/crushed rock seems to be much easier than pulling em out of dirt like I did while growning up)

"Hey" she says, "You're not going to be happy when you see what Troy is doing"

And just what is our wee one doing?

Indulging. In a dirt/dead leaf bath. And he couldn't possibly be more pleased with himself. Sorry for the slightly blurry photo - he wouldn't stop rolling about. Not even when I tried to clean him off before letting him back into the house. Apparently this cat is statically charged for maximum dirt attraction!

Stay tuned, I've got a project fresh off the needles, with another closing fast :)

Spring surprise

2010-03-19T19:00:00.000-07:00

So happy spring is here - and even more excited because we (or rather my husband) had a photo make it onto the cover of the March/April issue of Sierra magazine! Sounds like spring is finally on it's grand tour around the country - so I hope everyone has fantastic weather this weekend to go out and welcome in the First day of Spring in good fashion :) As for me, I've been eyeballing the wildflowers, trying to gauge when the best blooms will be out for a hike further afield.

There is knitting going on, it's just it doesn't look like much in its current state :) and I've been pondering new projects...so stay tuned!

Much Better

2010-03-10T16:20:00.002-07:00

There is now a much better photo of that cabled cardigan over on the finished objects blog :) The buttons aren't quite affixed yet - but my designated criteria for completed was to have all knitting completed - I have a hard time pre-selecting buttons and prefer to drag any finished object into the yarn store to compare how different buttons look on the finished item. I plan on sewing the buttons by the weekend...hopefully the weather will stay cool so it can be worn before being packed away for the hot season!

Oh halp!

2010-03-05T07:13:00.001-07:00

I'm becoming more and more attracted to these rich berry hues:
That would be Malabrigo Silky Merino - a lovely, shiny dk wt yarn....of all the yarn that has recently arrived, I've just been entranced with this colorway. I swear, I must be getting more girly as I get older.

I adore these little cases and stitch markers. How convenient is it that this one matches that stunning yarn so nicely?

If it isn't readily apparent, the shop has some new arrivals....and I'm currently running a Spring Cleaning sale :) head on over for a look!

Medalist?

2010-03-04T17:10:00.002-07:00

So...the closing ceremony happened last Sunday....

...but I've been seriously behind and haven't had the time to write up the full details of my Olympic Knitting....
I am happy to say that I did finish - and before the closing ceremonies too! Though I didn't get quite as much done as I wanted (meaning I was hoping to finish off some other WIPs if there was time once the cardigan was done) :) Full details and photos (though it looks like I'm going to have to retake a whole bunch of them due to poor lighting) over here.

Getting Close....

2010-02-27T19:50:00.002-07:00

My cat likes to keep track of my knitting and ensuring that it doesn't go anywhere....I had to wrestle the sleeves from her to throw them in the sink:

Witness, the Olympic Sweater in the sink with a splash of Soak Aquae. Apparently I need a larger sink because I couldn't get the whole sweater submerged...but I was too lazy to give the kitchen sink a good scrubbing....and the bathtub seemed like overkill.

With notes and measuring tape in hand, I blocked the body out to size...

And then I tackled the sleeves. And if you're thinking "boy, those sleeves sure look long"! Well...now you know why I don't knit too many sweaters for my husband ;)

Seaming is reserved for Sunday, as all the pieces need to be properly dry before hand...we'll see how long I wait before starting as finishing has never been my favorite part of sweater knitting...which would be why I opt for seamless as much as possible ;)

Fronts Moving Through!

2010-02-25T12:20:00.000-07:00

When last we checked in, I had a back finished...I am still a bit further along than what I'm showing....but I'm thinking this might wind up being a close finish anyway due to some more false starts and some seriously lost knitting time due to a run in with a bunch of roller coasters followed by a drug induced stupor (hello dramamine)

Knit in about a day, I finished off the right front...

A day later, I had the left front done....and after several different trials, I had the shoulders seamed...and sure enough, if this doesn't bloom and stretch as I expect it to, it will make a great cardigan for me ;)

Progress Check

2010-02-19T07:52:00.000-07:00

Cast on during opening ceremony on Friday, February 12.

I'm sad to report there were several false starts - the first of which was casting on and completing the ribbing on the Wrong Sized Needles. *sigh*. So back it went, ripped right back out and started over with correct needles...even remembered to switch to appropriate needle size once ribbing was complete - the saving grace? Big yarn and a minimal amount of knitting at hem.

Next false start: Pattern error in row 1! That's right folks, pattern error and no published errata. I thought for sure I was going bonkers, but I counted the number of stitches accounted for in the pattern, and sure enough, not all stitches cast on were accounted for - was able to figure it all out based on subsequent rows....

3 days later and here we are:

The back is finished :) I sure hope the gauge swatch does not lie, because I need this to stretch and widen before I do all the assembly.

The Right Front has now been cast on...with a repeat of the comedy of errors that started the back *sigh*

17 days.

2010-02-17T17:43:00.000-07:00

In case you weren't paying attention, the 2010 Olympics started last week....as did the Knitting Olympics :) Last winter olympics, I finished off a sweater, then tore it back and finished it again... I'm hoping for somewhat less drama this time around :) (if you're curious about the whole thing, check out February 2006 in the archives)

The plan of attack for this Olympics? A cabled cardigan for my husband from this book:

Men's Knits: 20 New Classics. Unfortunately, I haven't a photo of the sweater in question -but if all goes well, you'll see it soon enough as it comes off the needles :) I did some preparation for the event by winding the yarn and swatching. Including washing and drying the swatch in question - I've been surprised with several sweaters where they grew incredibly during the washing that I really should know better by now...

All the yarn was wound onto the same ball.....I sure hope it's enough! Stay tuned for updates :)

Plagued by Frogs

2010-02-15T11:55:00.000-07:00

Lucky for me, this is not my olympic knitting project...though maybe they ought to be seeing as they've been stranded on the needles for so long. I've been working on these since March 2008 according to Ravelry. I recently picked them back up and was knitting along making fantastic progress...or so I thought. I was looking at them more closely, and had been wondering why the gusset was taking so long...and to my horror, I realized I picked up 2x the number of stitches I should have on the heel flap. No wonder the gusset took so long! Of course, I didn't realize my mistake until just after the gusset was completed and I was onto the arch shaping (wondering why it didn't correspond at all to my arch...now I know!) - so they've been frogged clear back to the heel flap - I've managed to finish the gusset again, though these are now going to sit on the end of the couch awaiting the completion of this year's Olympic Knitting project...stay tuned :)

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

2010-02-14T12:38:00.000-07:00

And happy Sweetie Day too ;)

We're celebrating with DimSum and dumplings - what about you?

Unfortunately....

2010-02-12T12:25:00.001-07:00

...most things in the desert *do* have spines. But they still make for some pretty fascinating subject matter. I adore the colors of this agave - frosty green with the pinky purple spines. Maybe I should get out the dyepots again....because there is something simply soothing about that color pairing.

Also: A sonoran desert favorite - the accordion pleats of a saguaro cactus. I'm guessing with the recent rains the pleats aren't quite so deep anymore :)

Not Everything...

2010-02-10T12:23:00.002-07:00

...in the desert has spines.

Before spotting this lichen, I had no idea it could appear in blue. Most lichens I have ever spotted have been green, or yellow, or brown...but never before have I seen blue. Of course we had to snap a photo :)

Surprisingly, to me anyhow (when I first arrived out here), there are a number of grasses in the desert as well. They tend to sprout up quickly, covering the landscape in green, but then quickly mature and dry - unfortunately providing lots of fuel for wildfire season. I still find them pretty though, even in their dried/dormant state.

In case you're wondering whats up with the macro photos, we got a new lens over the holidays and are busy trying it out :D There are only so many photos of the cats I can post (or that they will tolerate me taking), and I thought you might find these a nice change of pace.

Fuzzy and Prickly?

2010-02-05T07:01:00.000-07:00

Well, maybe not. Behold, the Teddy Bear Cholla - so named because from afar, it looks fuzzy...but in reality, it's densly packed with long sharp spines! Should you have the misfortune to ever get a segment stuck on you, take care in removal, so-as to not further get yourself stuck! I normally wear trail runners while hiking, though if I know I'll be a cholla-dense region, I'll usually opt for more rugged footwear, just in case I am not paying attention and wind up stepping on or kicking one of the fallen segments.

This healthy specimen was found in the Superstition Wilderness, on one of the First Water loops. I'm looking forward to further hiking before the weather seriously warms up - due to the rain, I'm guessing we'll be having one heck of a wildflower season!

Happy House Elves :)

2010-02-01T12:22:00.000-07:00

I finally finished a pair of slippers for the Mister - the delay was only due to my getting terribly distracted. Once I buckled down (thanks to an afternoon of football at a friend's place) I finished off the toes and cuffs, and fed them to their feltastic washing machine. 15 minutes later, I was wringing them out and blocking them to shape over my shoes :D Due to the cool weather here, they stayed damp for a bit, so we were able to perfect the fit before they fully dried.

Unfortunately, they haven't seen much wear, I suspect I may have missed the coolest part of our winter...ah well, they're ready and waiting for the next cold snap!

Down the Rabbit Hole

2010-01-29T17:22:00.000-07:00

Look! Snow, flirting with the desert! Somehow January has nearly passed me by. It feels like I've blinked and ta dah! It's February! How does this happen?! (and no, I haven't been whiling away all my time playing with my iPod ;) ) Stay tuned, I'll share a finished object (sadly not the Squirrel mitts, which have been languishing in one of my numerous knitting bags) and perhaps some lovely fibers from some very talented dyers (no, not me - and not for the shop either....I've been enhancing my personal stash, dreaming perhaps of another handspun sweater).

In the meantime, there have been some updates to the shop - most notably a bunch of new patterns and 5" tips for the interchangeable Hiya-Hiya set. Check out all the new goodies here.

Priorities

2010-01-06T07:50:00.001-07:00

Look! My first FO in 2010 - a custom case for my my christmas present. I'm calling it practice for my Squirrel Mitts. Nevermind that I've still got some other knitting that I'm supposed to be working diligently on.

For more photos, pop on over here.

Here's to...

2010-01-01T12:03:00.000-07:00

A healthy and prosperous New Year full of good fortune!

I keep this blue fish in my car - fish in my culture are a symbol of abundance and plenty - so perhaps the car isn't best place - but it's kinda one of those "lucky talisman" kinda things...

in the spirit of out with the old and in with the new, we say farewell to my trusty steed. The car I purchased fresh out of college and I have parted ways after 13+ faithful years and over 185k miles. The fish has been moved into a new fishbowl:

one that happens to be matchy matchy :D

Farewell, 2009!

2009-12-31T21:05:00.001-07:00

As the year draws to a close, I find myself first wondering where the time has gone so quickly, followed quickly by positive hopes for 2010.

As December winds its way out, I'm enjoying some quiet time spent with my family, away from the craziness that is work and real life all combined. The crazy in the air seems to have (hopefully) worn itself out, and I find myself looking at a lot of things wrapping themselves up nicely.

The last year has been rewarding and challenging in different ways than years past - this year, I focused much more on my engineering career, rather than on dyework. I took on a new role, and it's proven to be challenging and rewarding, though it leaves me with much less energy to do production runs of dyeing.

It appears that while I have been knitting, I was nowhere near as prolific as years past...though I have to say, I think I churned off some pretty good projects, including an array of spectacular socks, a variety of sweaters and cardigans, and some stunning lace, if I do say so myself ;) Not to mention a wee bit of whimsy thrown in at the last minute :)

I attempted the 365 project, but sputtered out somewhere between 100 and 200....I definitely think those that complete the project are fantastically dedicated :) I also tried hooping - and while I've gotten much more proficient at keeping the hoop up, I'm no good at tricks...and I've discovered it takes a surprising amount of space to actually hoop and attempt tricks (I also discovered that my house apparently does not have such a space, and my cats do not enjoy my attempts at learning hoop tricks). Now that I've reached my mid-30s I figure I can throw caution to the wind, chop off my hair, and sample extensions of various hues - I'm ending the year with burgundy highlights :)

I'm looking forward to the "fresh beginning" that is associated with a new year - I hope to get back outdoors, renew my love of dyeing, learn new knitting tricks, and not go too insane with what I see coming down the pipe at work :D

Best wishes to all of you, for a most excellent 2010!

I can't resist...

2009-12-30T14:25:00.000-07:00

a wee woodland creature, immortalized on a mitten. I cast on for these shortly before Christmas, managing only a cuff before getting sidetracked. Now that I have some time away, I am endeavouring to knit away and make solid progress before the new year. You know. Because a girl who lives in a low desert valley apparently needs Squirrel Mittens.

A Last Minute Visit

2009-12-29T15:36:00.001-07:00

...from the elves.

I think they left their shoes behind.

For those that celebrate, I hope your elves were kind to you this year!

Swift...

2009-12-28T19:57:00.001-07:00

...and squooshy! Behold what became of the handspun yarn cakes - details here!

Wishing...

2009-12-25T09:01:00.000-07:00

...you a warm and wonderful day with your family. We're celebrating with naps :)

Happy Holidays!

2009-12-24T07:31:00.000-07:00

Best wishes to all of you this holiday season. May you all be healthy, well fed, in good spirits and humor. Thank you for visiting my wee space on the internet - I appreciate each and every one of you! Cheers!

Christmas Knitting....

2009-12-23T18:36:00.000-07:00

After having spun up those two yarns recently, I had to wind em up into yarncakes...1) so I could see how they looked in cake form and 2) so that I could start knitting with them immediately! Yes, they've been transformed...but I can't say anything more until after the holidays ;)

Play dough!

2009-12-21T18:09:00.003-07:00

I've been trying for a very very long time to figure out how to turn out a good loaf with varying results. I think I've finally stumbled upon one that will become my go-to recipe...want to see how things turn out once they are baked? Look over here!

Textured

2009-12-18T18:01:00.000-07:00

After I finished up with Audrey, I jumped in with a quick knitting sock project - these fairly flew off the needles - I think they took 2 weeks total, with knitting only on evenings and weekends. Not bad for a pair of socks destined for my husband's feet! More details? Of course! Have a look over here.

It's that time of year again...

2009-12-14T18:35:00.001-07:00

When the cats are extra affectionate and enjoy the knitwear as much as I do ;)

Hope you all are staying warm! I'm taking advantage of the cool weather to revel in my handknits! And by revel, I mean piling on the handknit socks, fingerless mitts, sweaters, cardigans and the occasional hat...all while still indoors. (I'm being stubborn and haven't turned on the heat yet).

Periwinkle.

2009-12-11T10:29:00.000-07:00

or verbena. or hydrangea....

This is a wheel blended navajo plied yarn - just over 8 ounces :) It's a blend of BFL and superwash merino that I had sitting around in the stash - there was no reasoning for the blending that way other than the colors were similar enough to allow for nice coloring, and something that I could add to the other navjao plied yarn to get enough yardage for a semi-secret project.

This time round, I made a conscious effort to put enough twist into the singles to prevent breaking on plying, and it seems to have gone much better. I'm loving the bounce and squoosh factor of the navajo plied yarn....tho I need to start churning off finer singles if I want the finished yarn to be less chunky!

And once again....

2009-12-09T20:46:00.000-07:00

I pushed the yarn usage to its limits :) that would be less than one meter of yarn left over from knitting my latest sweater. She's been done since November 14th, but I've been sorely neglecting my blog...anyone else wondering where all the spare time is going? If you know, please tell me. I need some.

Full details and lots more photos can be found here, on the finished objects blog. The yarn was purchased years ago, well before I was a spinner - at a farmers market in Oregon. I remember asking the sellers with some level of urgency if it was enough for a sweater, and sure enough, it was :) It's been moldering around in my stash waiting for the perfect inspiration to declare what it wanted to be, and took its own sweet time doing so, but I couldn't be happier with the result!

Behind the Wheel again...

2009-11-25T10:50:00.000-07:00

After spending a bunch of time knitting, I find myself somewhat between projects - oh, I'm still knitting, but I'm not as obsessive about the projects currently on the needles. Instead, because a good friend has been spinning up a storm of late, I decided I'd haul out the wheel and give things a go...

Behold! My first ever navajo plied yarn! Lots of squoosh - that would be a bulky weight, lofty 3-ply. I suffered a few breaks during the plying due to low twist in my singles - but otherwise, the yarn turned out quite nicely. I can't say I'm smooth at navajo plying - every time I picked up a loop I had to stop the wheel, and there was plenty of cursing when the yarn broke during plying - but I think I'm getting the hang of it. I'm now spinning up another pair of bobbins, and hope to cast on for a lace shawlette when I'm done with the spinning.

Speaking of yarn with lots of squoosh,say hello to Malabrigo Twist - a new 8-ply baby merino yarn that I've got in the shop in six gorgeous semi-solid colors. I have to admit to being awfully tempted to abscond with the whole lot of it and cast on for a slew of sweaters.

Knits for Him

2009-11-23T21:16:00.001-07:00

With all the sweaters coming off my needles, I think my dear husband might be wondering if I might turn my attention to knitting another one for him sometime soon.

It was rather fortuitous that I received a copy of Erika Knight's new book: Men's Knits not too long ago. The book features 20 patterns - including 16 sweaters/cardigans/vests, 2 hats, and 2 scarves. As expected, each garment is photographed beautifully - I especially like how the models in the book seem to be span a wide range in age and body shape. The patterns themselves are classic in style, and should appeal to the male who desires simple-looking, non-fussy knitwear. Unlike many womens' styles, the sweaters in this book are designed with plenty of ease to accomodate layering. The xxl size is designed to fit a chest measurement of 44 inches or so, but the actual garment size is usually in the realm of 46-50+ inches for the chest measurement. I'll be handing this book over to my husband so he can pick something out...though for the sake of my sanity (sleeve island on his last sweater lasted forever), I'm hoping he picks something knit out of bulky yarn!

mmm Cake.

2009-11-20T17:36:00.000-07:00

After suffering a week long craving for Tres Leches cake and not having any luck finding any single serving pieces anywhere locally (I admit to not calling mexican restaurants and asking after carryout), I finally gave up and just baked one myself.

After referencing various online recipes, I wound up going with the recipe from the Pioneer Woman. The only difference is that I didn't bother to transfer the cake to a platter before dousing it with the milky mixture....and I reserved the excess milky goodness 1) to use in my coffee and 2) to re-moisten the cake if there were any drier bits found during the course of eating.

It was delicious. The only bits to stay focused on are: 1) don't over-whip your egg whites 2) don't overbake your cake and 3) make sure to be liberal with the stabbing of the cake - it helps the sweet milky mix find its way inside :)

A fan on a mission

2009-11-18T19:04:00.000-07:00

This past summer, I added Ree Drummond's blog to my google reader list. I think I stumbled into her blog when someone pointed me at a recipe - then I got hooked on her writing - the little glimpses into her life, her photography, and even the peeks into homeschooling. I was pretty darned excited to find out that she's gone and released a cookbook!

The Pioneer Woman Cooks is a lot like Ree's blog - beautiful to look at and a pleasure to read. While it is chock full of recipes (many also on her website), it's also chock full of photographs - of her family, of the ranch and ranch life, and of course, of the food. I'm really enjoying pouring over this book. Of course, when I found out that Ree would be at a local bookstore for a signing, I had to go.

The event itself was a little crazy, and was totally overrun - I went prepared with my knitting (and was caught in the act in one of the captures on PW's blog.) I hear Ree was busy signing into the wee hours - making sure that every copy was signed before she left. It was a pleasure to meet her and personally thank her for such a great read, hopefully she doesn' t think I'm a total nut for having her hold my socks in my photo with her. She was far too gracious to let on if she did think I was crazy. :)

More sweaters...

2009-11-16T19:30:00.000-07:00

In most places in the country it's autumn...and has been for a while. In hopes of enticing Autumn back down here properly, I'm casting on for another sweater.

Hello, Audrey, from the fall 2009 Twist Collective. The pattern was recommended by Illanna while I was busy pondering just what to do with some yarn that's been in my stash for ages...it's a handspun yarn from Su-dan farm in Oregon - purchased, if I'm remembering right, on a visit up to the Pacific Northwest for work when I managed to squeeze in a trip to a local farmer's market. This was before I learned how to spin, so it's been sitting in my stash trying to decide what it wants to be for a while.

Pattern in hand, I wound all my skeins into one gigantic cake, and swatched away. The sweater will definitely look more rustic than the one in the pattern photo thanks to the handspun nature of the yarn - but i think it's going to turn out wonderfully :)

the Spice of Life

2009-11-13T11:24:00.000-07:00

Salt. I don't know about you, but I find the varieties of salt intriguing. I also find its history to be rather interesting too. If you're interested in learning more about how salt has shaped the world, I recommend reading Salt: A World History.

I'm one lucky girl, because a good friend of mine correctly figured that I'd find this small collection of finishing salts fascinating. A couple of them are more common or standard - including:
Fleur de sel de guerande - a fine sea salt that hails from the south of France
Sel Gris de l'ile de noirmoutier - a coarse sea salt, also from France - the color comes from the grey clay saltpan that the seawater evaporates in for harvest.
Maldon - white sea salt with large thin crystalline flakes - this salt is evaporated in England's Blackwater estuary in stainless steel saltpans that are mounted over an intricate set of brickwork that is used to control the evaporation rate, encouraging the formation of the large flaky crystals.

More exotic are the following beauties:

Alaea Volcanic - this coarse salt gets its beautiful color from the red hawaiian clay that is introduced during the harvesting of this seasalt.

Turkish Black pyramid - this salt is combined with activated charcoal to obtain its color - this salt is incredibly crunchy - and I can't get over the wonderful crystal structure that it displays.

Kauai Guava Smoked - this hawaiian salt is hand harvested on molokai and kauai. After evaporation by sun and wind, the salt is ground and hand smoked using wild guava wood. The smokiness in this salt is simply incredible.

If you'd like to try some finishing salts, this set came from the Meadow in Portland - they also have chocolate...and wine...and flowers. The next time I'm up in that area of the country, I'm definitely going to have to check it out in person.

Speaking of Wool...

2009-11-11T17:00:00.000-07:00

I'm loving my new addition to my knitting/spinning library: The Knitter's Book of Wool by Clara Parkes. I definitely have a preference for natural fibers when I knit - and while I am partial to Merino, there are lots of other fiber sheep breeds out there. This fantastic book demystifies all things wooly - well, maybe not all, but it goes a long way into explaining the different things that make the various varieties of wool unique unto themselves.

If you're not a spinner, or are still learning, the book provides a brief look into how wool fresh off a sheep becomes yarn. My favorite chapter is the one about the various sheep breeds. Clara discusses the properties of 37 different breeds of sheep, providing information about fineness, staple length, crimp, luster and what uses the wool is good for. Each brief writeup is accompanied by an illustration of the sheep in question.

After the sheep discussion, Clara goes into another facet of yarn making: fiber blending - where she explains the benefits of blending wool with other fibers - and what this blending might contribute to your final project.

After you're well armed with all this newly acquired information, you can tackle the projects in the book - of which there are plenty (19) - there are hats (2), mitts (2), socks (3), sweaters (5), shawls and scarves (5), a bag (1) and a pillow (1). The patterns appear well written, and are accompanied by a large clear photo of the finished product (and often times smaller detail images as well). Where appropriate, there are charts and schematics. Skill level required range from beginner to experienced. The sweater patterns include patterns for children, men and women - with a wide range in size. (Largest chest size for men is 56" and for women, the largest bust size is 52")

If you're looking to learn more about wool, I highly recommend this book - I'm personally planning on working my way though the various wool varieties by way of spinning and knitting :)

My kind...

2009-11-09T11:31:00.000-07:00

...of pink and green. I had a fantastic mail day a while back - this was in one of the packages waiting for me when i got home that evening. It's finn wool - a type that I've never spun with (though I fully admit that my wool repertoire is rather limited). After poking around some (I love google), I've discovered that finn is a medium wool (meaning medium by micron count) - though it lands on the fine side of medium. It also has a longer staple length than I'm accustomed to, ranging from 3 to 6 inches. In addition to having a soft hand, finn wool also has a lovely luster to it. Regardless, I'm rather adoring this small bag of roving - and pondering what project to spin it up for...I probably better get a move on, especially since I renewed my subscription.

How could I resist when Adrian puts up such an enticing photo?

Bounty

2009-11-05T22:12:00.000-07:00

mmm. Glorious reds and orange. I don't know what it is with that color family, but it has me seriously entranced right now.

In addition to wandering the town, having adventures by subway, watching musicals and baseball games, I had to get in my fix for the farmers market. In all fairness, there are markets where I live, they just aren't anywhere near as sizeable as those in other areas of the country. The Union Square Market apparently runs Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. It's a mix of food, flora and crafts - I, of course, focused on the food. All the stuff I had the fortune to try was delicious.

But not only were they good for eating, they were wonderful on the eye also :) Since we're moving on towards the winter, the root vegetables were out in force. I can tell you the various fingerling potato varieties were delicious (but they don't seem to photograph real well).

In addition to your regular standard-issue orange carrot, there were these beautiful yellow and red/purple varieties. I was tempted to bring some home on the plane, but my luggage was already quite full...and I wasn't sure how I'd be received trying to clear security with a couple bunches of carrots as my "personal item".

They also had these gorgeous cauliflowers though why the purples wound up so much more monstrous in size than the orange, I'm not so sure. There were also some white cauliflower, of course.

And finally, some more fall blooms. It sure was nice to visit the City!

cutting it close...as usual

2009-11-03T22:21:00.000-07:00

It seems several of my projects of late have been of the last minute variety - sadly, I didn't manage to finish a single pair of socks during Socktober...mostly because I was distracted knitting something else. The above curl of yarn is all that was left after I bound off. The project in question was finished and blocked the night before I packed it up and took it to a fantastic wedding...this seems to be developing into a theme...Have a look here to see how the frantic knitting turned out :)

Oh and yes, those would be a string of bacon and egg lights - they are in my BIL's kitchen, and I have no idea where he got them, but I really like em a lot :)

The City that Never Sleeps

2009-10-30T22:12:00.009-07:00

Yikes! After about a month of nonstop craziness at work and a whirlwind trip to the City that Never Sleeps, I find I'm crazy exhausted and apparently have managed to neglect my blog for an entire month. Not that I didn't have things queued, because I did...I just never managed to get to adding the text to the photos!

Ah well - any idea where I disappeared off to? I did lots and lots of walking and wandered by the above building - it's probably hard to figure out what it is since it's not one of the more recognizable perspectives - most people take their photo from much further away - or from a higher angle, so as to get its distinctive roofline. It's the Chrysler Building :) I had a chance to visit with some relatives and meet up with some friends for a huge celebration over the weekend.

In addition to visiting and merry making, I wandered around town, ogled the buildings (some of the buildings in NYC are wonderfully ornate), freaked myself out by wandering through the crowds in Times Square, caught a musical off Broadway, and (old news) watched the Yankees qualify for the World Series. My BIL & SIL treated me to a game - they are season ticket holders - while I'm not one for baseball, there is something to be said about watching a game *in person* surrounded by crazy fans.

...all that and I even braved the subway, with no issues...until the last day on my way back to the airport! Folks were kind enough to confirm my revised travel plans once I figured out that things were going awry and I made it to JFK with enough time to clear security and get a coffee before reporting to my gate for boarding. *whew*!

I need to stop

2009-10-09T07:42:00.000-07:00

with the casting on of projects with lots of stitches on small sized needles...Or rather I need to stop doing so when I have a deadline in mind that is less than a month away.

I've recently cast on for the Featherweight Cardigan from Knitbot (Hannah Fettig) - she's the same designer that came up with the Whisper Cardigan, which wears more like a long bodied shrug - the yarn I've selected for the featherweight cardi is finer than that called for in the pattern, and as a result, I've found myself knitting on US3s. Somehow I don't think this was such a good idea...but i have three weeks to try to get it done! Of course, I'm still pondering pattern modification - I'm thinking of adding cable detailing to the ribbing and the front/collar section. We'll see how that goes - of course, I'll keep you posted!

She doesn't just knit...

2009-10-07T12:37:00.000-07:00

...she also sews!

We're talking about Wenlan Chia - this should come as no surprise to those of you who are more on top of such things - Wenlan's Twinkle line has been in existance since 2000, and includes yarn & knitting designs, home furnishings, jewelery and a ready-to-wear collection.

This new Twinkle book, Twinkle Sews, includes 25 patterns for you to bring some of Wenlan's whimsical style into your own wardrobe. Sizing ranges from 0 to 16, with the patterns being provided by way of a CD. They print out on regular-sized letter paper, with instructions on how to assemble them to get you going on your way.

Since everyone's sizing is a little different, sizes start with 32" bust, 26" waist and 35" hip (size 0) and go up to 40" bust, 34" waist and 43" hip (size 16). If you know about pattern construction and apparel, you may be able to easily adjust the patterns accordingly to best fit your body.

Before I get too far, I should say that I haven't sewn a piece of clothing for myself in ages - mended, yes. Altered, yes, but usually by hand - sewn from a pattern to fit my body? Definitely ages ago...and with the assistance of my mother.

After a brief introduction, the book opens with a basic techniques section. This includes information on how to use the patterns (including the legend for notations on the patterns), sizing, seaming and stitching, shaping, linings, closures (zippers and buttons), finishing (bias tape, hems), and a host of other things. If you are completely new to sewing, I would recommend an introductory sewing class or book before plunging into the projects in this book.

After the Techniques section, the projects begin with a chapter on skirts. The patterns include A-lined, gored and straight skirts - with the simplest pattern at the beginning, moving to more complicated patterns as you progress through the chapter. Photos of each pattern are featured in the beginning of each chapter, along with the project description, a tip and note pointing you to the page on which the instructions for the project begin. After the photos, and just before the project instructions begin, are a few technical notes to help guide you on your way to success. Each of the project instructions inclue a skill level rating, a materials list, a note to the page that the large photos are on in addition to smaller front and back shots of the finished item. Also included are small schematics of the pattern, and step-by-step instructions for assembly and project completion.

Each subsequent chapter follows the same format as the first. The 2nd chapter focuses on raglan sleeve construction (tops, and tunics), the 3rd chapter focuses on drop-shoulder construction (more tops, tunics and dresses, including the one on the cover), the 4th and final chapter focuses on spaghetti straps (summery cami's and dresses).

Overall, I think this book is put together quite nicely, and the patterns should work for various body types and ages - it's just not a book for a beginner is all :)

and now...

2009-10-05T18:08:00.003-07:00

...something wee.

Knitting for babies is great for instant gratification :) especially if you go and use big-ish yarn :) have a look at what recently came off the needles in a bout of stealth gift knitting!

Happy Mid-Autumn Moon Festival!

2009-10-03T18:39:00.000-07:00

Tonight is the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival - the moon should be nearing it's fullest and roundest shape - I've packed up my mooncakes, and it'll be a great evening for a night-hike!

Seasonal change

2009-10-02T07:58:00.000-07:00

Happy Belated Atumnal Equinox! I guess time flies when I'm running around like a crazed woman ;) I guess I had a break long enough to go for a color change - this time, I've gone with Red (I was going to go with Red and Orange, but they didn't have any orange on hand) - something bold and much more obvious for the Autumn. I love the bright hue, but am not convinced I'll continue to keep it up after this round. Maintenance is easy enough, and I did get a full three months out of the blue and purple...I guess we'll see in another three months :)

Beauty and Greatness

2009-09-30T07:25:00.004-07:00

and they belong to all of us.

If you haven't caught the show, there is a 6-part miniseries shot by Ken Burns on PBS showing this week - check your local listings OR view them online through October 9th.

The United States currently has 391 National Parks/Monuments/National Recreation areas. I've been to 33 that I can recall, I have lots of great memories from my various visits. How many have you been to, and do you have a favorite?

Celebrations

2009-09-28T18:39:00.000-07:00

So, all that crazed knitting was done in preparation for my attendance at a grand event: the Marriage of one of my cousins. We practically grew up in the same household - so he's like a brother in many ways. You can have a look at the finished shawl over here.

Speaking of brothers, *sniff* they're all grown up. Look at them all, in suits and ties no less! I had to go through a crazy number of photos to pull this one (they were all being goofy in the other photos) I guess somethings never change ;)

The ceremony was outdoors, at the Nixon Presidential Library - out in the rose garden. The setting was stunning, the flowers (arrangements, and otherwise) were also beautiful. There were rose petals in abundance.

The bride and groom - aren't they lovely? I saw their photographer sneaking round to the other side - but we figured we shouldn't go sneaking around during the ceremony in an attempt at photographs.

The little ones in the wedding party were especially adorable - I don't have photos of the little man who did a recitation of Mr. Roger's "It's you I like" - very well done and way too cute!

The reception was indoors - and the food was prepared by an ex-presidential chef (and it was very tasty too). Behold, the cake:

Simple and elegant, white and dark chocolate with raspberries...and pastry cream.

Congratulations, Julian and Christina! We wish you happiness, good fortune and health!

OPF - Hello August!

2009-09-25T07:46:00.001-07:00

Eep, it's already the end of September and I totally forgot to share the fiber I got in August :) It's quite lovely - though I haven't yet made friends with my spinning wheel (I was too crazed working on that shawl)...I saw a sample worked up by Kiki when we met for knitting this past weekend. Her lovely swatch/sample make me realize I really need to get on with learning how to navajo ply properly - course this does mean re-learning how to put more twist in my singles since I had switched to spinning primarily low twist singles a while back. Ah, the joys of learning new skills :) (ps - there's a great tutorial on YouTube right here in case you're trying to get navajo plying down too)

Paradise.

2009-09-22T23:26:00.000-07:00

It's not all desert here in Arizona. We have some pretty spectacular riparian areas - I always marvel at the glorious colors of redrock country.

The redrock and the foliage naturally complement each other - Mother Nature sure is clever ;)

...just beware the Poison Ivy. Portions of this area are filthy with it!

Down to the wire!

2009-09-21T08:31:00.003-07:00

The Secret of Chrysopolis Shawl, which I apparently cast on for 2 years ago this month, has been finished, and the knitting needles officially harvested!

it's currently staked out and blocking, getting ready to pack it up and take it with me for a wedding. Finished, it's an impressive 27.5" wide, and probably about 6-feet long. Of course, once it's unstaked, there will be more photos :)

The Chicken Rides Again

2009-09-17T22:45:00.002-07:00

Seems like more and more bloggers that I read have found their way into publishing - I've been reading Amy Karol's blog: Angry Chicken for a long time - she makes me aspire to actually do fabric-craft rather than simply acquire fabric ;)

Her new book: Bend the Rules with Fabric is my speed - not so much focus on the sewing, but the embellishment and personalization. The book starts out with a quick primer on design elements and color theory along with a fantastic listing and explanation of various tools or other materials you might use in your crafting adventures. After the basics are taken care of, the book moves on into the projects. As the subtitle explains, there are projects that include stamping, painting/drawing, stenciling, various methods of image transfer, dyeing and using fiber on fabric (think simple embroidery or applique). Each technique is explained using simple instructions - and my favorite part? The pros (why this method will make you happy) and cons (why this method will make you sad) for each technique are also there for you to guide you on your crafty way.

This book takes me way back to when I used to craft a lot more with fabric - and it's also introduced me to some new techniques. I'm looking forward to seeing what I can make "new" again!

Coincidentally, Amy also authored some great gift tags: Bend the Rules Gift Labels - in addition to one perfect for crafters (reading "I made this, just so you know. So don't say anything mean about it") - there are 7 others that you may find as perfect as I do including "Don't get too excited. The box is from something else." :)

And now...

2009-09-15T22:40:00.000-07:00

...an interlude. While I knit like a mad woman, the cats practice synchronized sprawling. If you make like you're going to rub their bellies, they usually will roll to the side:

See? Excuse the extraneous fluff on the carpet - clearly, it's time to vacuum again!

Houston...

2009-09-14T22:15:00.003-07:00

...we have a problem.

See that wee bit of yarn? Not nearly enough for oh...150+ rows more of knitting, is it? Thank goodness I am dyer...but probably better, the second skein was still available! I'm making swift progress on harvesting the needles out of this project by way of actually finishing it. I'm now knitting down to the wire - I want it done for an event this weekend. If I am going to make it, I need to have this baby staked out and blocking by Saturday Night...think it'll happen?

Rockin'

2009-09-04T17:35:00.000-07:00

Hmm. Not quite a look I'm excited to be sporting, but I've found I've managed to damage myself again! (worry not, I only have to wear that evil looking boot at night - I'm still trying to figure out if it's Plantar Fasciitis or if I've somehow managed to give myself a stress fracture)

After having given up heeled shoes a while ago, I found myself crazily drawn to these lovely ruby red, modestly heeled mary janes from John Fluevog. After hearing several acquaintances sing the praises of Fluevog shoes, and realizing I needed to come up with an outfit for an upcoming wedding, it was a perfect opportunity to see if my Keen-loving feet will tolerate heels (I do realize that PF or stress fracture means I'm not supposed to be prancing around in heels, but I figure there isn't *that* much walking involved and the wedding is a month away). Due to my lack of knowhow when it comes to fancy womens shoes, I had to rely on the advice and guidance of the kind individual who answered the phone when I called to place my order - kudos and thanks to Rebecca from the Chicago Fluevog store - she was very helpful in guiding style and size selection and notified me that apparently Vogs can be purchased by layaway plan. Egad.

Getting Organized

2009-09-02T16:12:00.000-07:00

Apparently, my household has been struck with a bout of Autumnal Organization - between myself, my husband and our cats, we've managed to clutter up the place since our Spring Cleaning event and once again find ourselves going through everything and trying to decide what items to keep, what to donate away, what to try to resell and what to just throw (or freecycle) away. While traumatizing at the time, I always do find a good bout of organization to be incredibly invogorating once finished - how about you?

Just in time, my friends Illanna and Kiki have a great idea for the month of September!

It's the Great September Needle Harvest! The concept is deceptively simple - harvest/free up as many needles as you can from your UFOs by either actually finishing them, ripping them back, transferring the project to stitch holders, converting the project into something else (for example, felt it down and turn it into an ornament, a bag or perhaps even a creature!), give the project to someone else to finish (with their own needles ;) ) or...just pitch it (without the needles, of course).

There's a Ravelry group, and prizes for incentives - click on the banner or the link above to join us in our harvesting!

Small World

2009-08-31T15:34:00.001-07:00

Occasionally, I am reminded that the internet has really made it possible to "meet" folk from around the world whose lives would never have otherwise crossed mine.

It was one such individual that I have occasionally corresponded with after finding out about his work from another blogger, and viewing his photos on flickr. As soon as I saw the cover, I new this had to be the same fellow:

Sure enough, Trond, aka the KNITKID, pulled together his great Knitting Project into book form: HatHeads: 1 Man + 2 Knitting Needles = 50 Fun Hat Designs The book is a peek into the crazy 20 months and approximately 200 hats created during this time. Throughout the book are glorious photos of the hats and their recipients. The beginning portion of the book includes the story of how the Knitting Project came into being, and while it is a very small section, I really enjoyed reading about it. The hats in the book vary in size from Small (17.75-19 inch circumference) to Large (21.25 - 22.75 inch circumference) - there's a handy reference before the patterns start to help narrow things down if you know what size hat you need to knit. Of course, there are some tips on size adjustment.

Each of the hats follow a simple beanie shaped pattern, but are colorful and whimsical. Every hat is presented with a photo of its recipient and a little bit of backstory along with clear instructions and charts (if appropriate). Many of the hats do make use of stranded knitting (fair-isle), so the book may not be fantastic for knitters that are just getting started. At the end of the book, there is a basic hat recipe, along with some information on how to customize your own motif into a hat.

Personally, I was drawn to the book more for the photos and inspiration than anything else - the hat patterns are a bonus - it's simply refreshing to see all the different variations that Trond had come up with during the course of his knitting project, and reading some of the insight behind his work and designs. If you'd like to see a selection of the hats that Trond has knit, have a look at the flickr photoset.

Last Looks

2009-08-26T11:04:00.001-07:00

Continuing downcanyon towards the Colorado, you eventually will find yourself walking the benches above the slot that is the lower end of Havasu Canyon before it joins the Colorado. The water is startlingly blue, and reminds me of the summer sky.

The Colorado River, in contrast, is much more green, and can also run chocolate-milk brown during the monsoon season. We were lucky enough to catch a blue heron fishing (he was successful) along the bank. Other wildlife spotted on this trip (though not successfully photographed) include a healthy number of bats and lizards in addition to a rarely seen (for us anyhow) desert fox!

If you are interested in making the visit to Havasu Canyon yourself, you can find information and make your reservations with the Havasupai Tribe. Peak visitation is likely during the summer months - though I personally prefer the shoulder seasons when there are fewer visitors (and temperatures are more suitable for hiking). For those who don't care to hike in or pack in your own gear, it is possible to ride a helicopter or hire a horse service to carry your pack(s) in or out of the canyon.

Magical Travertine

2009-08-21T11:06:00.002-07:00

Travertine rims make for some beautiful photography while hiking downcanyon from Mooney falls towards the Colorado River. The calcium carbonate comes out of solution, coating and trapping leaves, sticks and other vegetation while forming miniature dams, rims and terraces.

Amazingly, evidence of historical watercourse changes can be found throughout the entire hike down canyon, provided you know where to look. Often I found myself climbing down (or up as I went back up towards the campground) old travertine terraces that have since been covered by canyon grape and other vegetation. In some regions of the canyon, I spotted silt and travertine-covered tree roots. Based on the relative elevation of these abandoned travertine terraces relative to the current water level in addition to the quantity of vegetation present, I imagine it's been quite some time since the watercourse has changed its preferred location - it makes me wonder how many large floods have occurred in the canyon, resulting in major changes to the watercourse.

Given how fast some of the vegetation grows, in addition to the evidence of travertine already covering the man-made dams near the falls, I suspect the canyon will recover relatively quickly from the flood of August 2008. Regardless of the changes, the area is stunning to visit.

Falling Waters

2009-08-19T10:54:00.003-07:00

In case you haven't guessed, I escaped for a backpacking trip to Havasu Canyon. It's been 8 years since we last visited, and we were curious to see the changes since the the flash flood from last August.

The biggest difference occurred at and above Navajo Falls - Navajo Falls, unfortunately, is no longer (you can see what it looked like in its glory via the link above). During the course of the flood, the stream cut a new path, eating away at the relatively soft embankments to form two new waterfalls while abandoning the watercourse over the old Navajo falls. Unfortunately, we had some issues with our camera that went undiscovered until we got home, so many of our photos of the various falls did not turn out satisfactorily :(

Anyhow, this is Havasu Falls, no longer a dual split fall - all the water now flows out what was previously the right hand channel (looking at the falls). In addition to the change in waterflow, the travertine pools below the falls seem to have taken a hammering. Some work has been done to try to reconstruct the pools, and travertine is already starting to cover the man-made dams.

Mooney falls remains largely unchanged, with the exception of the silting up of the pool below the falls in addition to the loss of some of its travertine dams as well. Similarly to Havasu Falls, the tribe has installed some rock walls in the pool, to encourage the reformation of the terraced travertine.

Mineral Waters

2009-08-17T10:51:00.001-07:00

Mother Nature sure has a way with colors! There's something about mineral laden water and red sandstone walls along with the greenery of the surrounding riparian zone that always makes me happy.

Stay tuned for more photos from the land of blue-green waters!

Inspiration Found.

2009-08-10T17:37:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, I lose my kitchen mojo. Okay, of late, it seems to happen a lot - I blame it on the ambient oven-like temperatures down here in the desert southwest. Sometimes I get over my slump by flipping through my piles of cookbooks - other times, I get ideas from my blogroll (though in all fairness, not all are listed because I've forsaken bloglines for google reader). Still other times I resort to PBS (generally on the weekend, and only because I do not have Food Network). When all else fails, my friends usually help me out by pointing me in a direction.

A recent suggestion was to head over to the Pioneer Woman blog and check out her kitchen experiments - and more specifically the recipe for this salad - it suited my mood perfectly - fresh, chock full of veggies - and no cook! I happened to have some leftover roast chicken in the fridge that shredded up nicely and went right in. I will warn you though - this makes a LOT of salad - so if you're not feeding a small army, nor are you prepared to be eating this for the next week, I recommend scaling it down some.

Go have a look at Ree's blog - it's beautifully done - all of it - not just the part about the cooking though all those photos in the cooking section seem to always make me hungry!

Craftacular - finishing with Felt

2009-08-07T16:22:00.002-07:00

I'm finishing off the week with a book on felt:

As the title states, Feltique is a book that covers a variety of techniques and projects in working with felt. The book features projects from various artists - including some adorable softies, some great neclaces (see covershot!), various bowls/vessels, a sweet owl coinpurse, and a needle felted dog by Laurie Sharp of Woolpets!

Projects are separated into chapters by technique and are varied for a wide range of skill levels. The first chapter makes use commercial felt - these projects generally involve cutting and sewing sheets of commercially-made felt. The second chapter focuses on wet felting - a fun, if sometimes messy endeavour. Chapter three is all about needle-felting - great for getting out aggresions, but probably not suitable for small children without supervision due to the use of a sharp barbed needle-felting tool. The fourth chapter is about fulled felt - projects that involve throwing knitted or crocheted objects into the wash with the intent of shrinking it down into a denser fabric - if you don't knit, worry not, some of the projects make use of already knitted sweaters - thrift store finds or even rescues from your own closet. The last chapter combines various techniques into one finished project.

I thought this was a fun book that definitely opened my eyes into new ways of using felt as a fabric/medium. Would you like my copy? US only please, leave me a comment and make sure I can figure out how to find you to let you know if you've won. The Random Number Generator will be pressed into service for this book next weekend.

Craftacular - Flowers for Everyone

2009-08-05T16:21:00.003-07:00

Next up - a craft that makes use of wee squares of fabric and turns them into beautiful floral embellishments:

I seem to collect fabric, though I definitely don't sew anywhere near as much as I knit. In any case Kanzashi is another craft that can help me use up my fabric stash without having to get out the sewing machine.

If you are unfamiliar with Kanzashi, it is an artform involving the folding of fabric squares to form petals that are then assembled into flowers. The art of Kanzashi originates in Japan and are still used to adorn the hair of geisha and maiko. Traditional Kanzashi can be very elaborate and realistic in appearance - the designs in this book are much more suited towards beginners in the craft.

Kanzashi in Bloom is broken into four chapters - the first chapter provides an introduction to the history of the art form (and in case you would like to support an indie artist skilled in the craft, there are a couple links to folks who make their creations available for purchase). The second chapter focuses on materials and basic techniques - with lots of clear photographs to guide you on your way. Once you get the hang of the basics, the third and fourth chapters focus on projects - wearables (chapter three) and gifts (chapter four).

While this book does not get you into the more elaborate Kanzashi (chrysanthemums, lotus flowers, etc), it does teach you the basic skills to build upon. The internet has proven to be a wealth of knowledge, with several tutorials on Youtube, Flickr and various blogs.

Craftacular

2009-08-03T13:51:00.002-07:00

A trio of crafty book reviews coming to you this week - each focused on a different tecnique, and all great for embellishment projects.

The first book is definitely focused primarily on embellishment, rather than on projects that can stand alone:

Ribbon Embroidery focuses on simple stitches that can be used to personalize anything that you could embroider upon. After a brief introduction identifying tools and materials and reviewing some tips and techniques, the book is separated into three chapters beginning with: Small Repeating Stitches, followed by Line Stitches, and finishing with Filled Stitches.

Each chapter opens with a large photograph of a sampler, illustrating a variety of the stitches taught in that chapter. Within the chapter, each stitch is demonstrated in a variety of sizes and ribbons, followed by step by step instructions, each illustrated with a photograph. In most cases I had no trouble following along - however the technique of making french knots still manages to elude me (yes, believe it or not, I have actually tried my hand at embroidery before!). My favorites of the stitches are the woven wheel (looks like rosettes when executed in ribbon), fishbone stitch, fern stitch, and couching stitch.

Overall, if you're relatively new to embroidery - or looking for some inspiration, this book is a good one to add to your library. Would you like my copy? Please leave me a comment - and a way to get a hold of you in case you're the winner - US only please, on account of the postage. I'll dig out the handy Random Number Generator some time next week.

Squee!

2009-07-29T16:38:00.002-07:00

Seems like after a year or so of waiting, my patience has paid off - I've finally cleared the waiting list for the Hello Yarn Fiber Club!

Image from HelloYarn

I've always loved Adrian's work and I never seem to be on top of things when she updates her shop, so I'm excited to be on the receiving end of her fiber club....now then, I should probably make nice with my wheels and spindles in preparation...

Speaking of Preserves...

2009-07-20T19:30:00.001-07:00

Seems like a whole host of folk that I follow in blogland and Flickr are talking about their gardens - so far, I have not been brave enough to try to put in a raised bed garden in my back yard - the yard is quite small, and currently landscaped liberally with cactus. Also, having grown up in the northern Midwest, I can't seem to wrap my brain around the growing season down here in the desert. For those that don't have gardens, I've been enjoying hearing about their local farmers markets as well.

The abundance of produce, inspiration from others has made me more intrigued by preserving foods - the only method that I have tried my hand at is dehydration (mostly due to the hiking and backpacking activities - though I have to admit to really enjoying the convenience of prepackaged freeze-dried meals).

Well-Preserved appears to be a nice introductory book in trying one's hand in small-batch preserving. The book touches on several varieties of preserving fresh foods including canning, pickling, freezing, preserving in oil and curing/smoking. The book is further broken into sections for fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts and fungi, and meat, poultry and fish (the last six being grouped together into two separate groups of three).

Within each of the chapters are several recipes, followed by three recipes in which to use to the master recipe as an ingredient. In most cases, the putups for the master recipes range from 3-4 pints once prepared. While not all of the recipes include a photo, the photos that are present are beautifully done and certainly make me want to give several of the recipes a try...perhaps I should join the local CSA after all!

What to do...

2009-07-17T21:26:00.000-07:00

When berry season arrives and you can't seem to stop yourself from buying more berries than you could possibly consume before they go past their peak?

Well...you could bake a delicious cake layered with berries...

or you could try your hand at preserve making :) read on for the recipe. I can tell you that this tastes absolutely fantastic served warm over dark chocolate mousse cake and vanilla ice cream...just sayin'

Changeable

2009-07-15T18:08:00.001-07:00

In addition to all the wildlife, we got a chance to observe a wide variety of weather patterns move in and out of the Canyon all day.

Our hike in started with shifting rain clouds - they'd move in, veiling the view of the canyon, then shift and offer some clear tantalizing views.

As the day progressed, the sky would clear, then cloud back over in seemingly random intervals. Often times the clouds would be accompanied by a very welcome brisk breeze, other times, they would drop some cooling rain.

Hiking in the Grand Canyon during the summer certainly poses some additional challenges - especially with the temperatures exceeding 100 degrees. We opted to hike in early, stopping for a midafternoon siesta in whatever shade was available during the heat of the day, finishing the evening with an additional hike out to a viewpoint with hopes of catching some sunset photos (sadly, the cloud cover was too thick to make for a brilliant sunset).

If you've got a hankering to vicariously visit the Grand Canyon, and happen to be in the Phoenix Metro Area tomorrow night, you might want to check out the slideshow by Gary Ladd at the Glendale Public Library.

A Grand Visit

2009-07-14T07:28:00.002-07:00

It's been a long while since I've visited the Big Ditch in northern Arizona - I'd nearly forgotten how glorious it can be...of course, I personally think it is more glorious when visited in the shoulder season...and when hiking outside of the main corridor...however, the corridor trails do have their uses...mainly, when record setting heat is forecast, there is much to be said for having easy water access at each 1.5 mile point on the way out ;)

Plenty of wee rodents and brave birds to observe - the rock squirrels are a boisterous bunch - brave, and highly accustomed to seeing people, visitors are reminded to not feed or otherwise coax or entice the wildlife. In addition to plenty of rock squirrels and birds (they were not cooperating with my photography, I'm afraid - but in addition to the wrens and ravens, I also saw a few hummingbirds and a condor!), we also saw some mule deer, a few bighorn sheep, several spiny lizards, some whiptails and an elk with an impressive rack. The rodents and birds can be especially brave in established areas, so much so that while our back was turned preparing dinner, I heard a small thunk in the darkness - it turned out a rather portly mouse managed to vault into our open ammo box (provided for storing food and other smellables) - luckily, as soon as we shone our lights upon him, he lept back out!

Dyejob of another variety...

2009-07-08T15:02:00.000-07:00

...or Blue...it's not just for old ladies ;)

I recently got a haircut - had to do something to get my hair up off my neck what with the 110+ (~45 C) temps here in the desert (yes, I know we have air conditioning, but still, any time spent outdoors is simply broiling!) Anyhow, I thought I'd do something different and add in some blue and purple (the matching shirt was just an unplanned bonus).

It isnt really a dye-job, rather it's a set of extensions - the salon suggested those instead of real colorwork because they are lower maintenance and a lot less stress on my hair. Indoors, they aren't terribly visible...

...but the color does pop out a lot better in the sun! In case you're wondering, these should be able to stay in 2-3 months, and they are seamless/weftless. The biggest thing I've noticed so far with them is the texture of the extension does not closely match my own hair - it's more fine and definitely more coarse (but I suspect that might be due to the color treatment). It took a little while to get accustomed to the join, but otherwise, it's been a relatively low fuss way to get some color into my hair :)

So... about that jumpity

2009-07-03T14:23:00.000-07:00

Well, unlike last year, I actually remembered to bring my camera to TNNA. As the camera is not allowed on the show floor, I mostly forgot I had it with me - and then simply felt awkward asking people if I could snap photos with them. So the only photo I have is the jumpity in the hotel room - how undignified ;)

I shared a room with Marie and we meet some great folks this year and bumped into some of the knitterati again. Amy and Jillian from Knitty, Julia and Kate from Twist Collective, Cookie A (who has a new book coming out soon), Anne Hanson, Guido, the Ravelry Crew, Miriam, Laura, Janel (whose next book is due out soon, and the patterns look just as wonderfully original as in her first book - go to her blog to check previews)

We of course went to North Market and the short north district to partake several times of Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams. And they are indeed splendid - if ever you are in Columbus, you should make sure to get some :)

While I did enjoy seeing all the yarn and knitting goodies, I had the best time meeting with and connecting with all the people - it's always a good time - though I find now I'm pining for reasons to find myself in Portland in time for Sock Summit, even though I know the classes are all sold out!

An Ode.

2009-07-02T11:12:00.000-07:00

To Malabrigo yarn.

Speaking of Malabrigo yarn, I've restocked the Malabrigo lace and brought in Malabrigo Sock into the shop...and it is lovely :)

Happy Birthday!

2009-07-01T14:54:00.000-07:00

As we roll into the 4th of July weekend, celebrating the Independence Day here in the United States, I'm going to also celebrate Spritely Goods' launch with a wee sale - it was July several years back that I got the shop up and running on its own domain and it's been a wonderful adventure since then. Pop over and have a look and see if you find something to your liking :)

Thanks to all of you, for making this small part of my own Independence "dream" become reality!

Jump for Joy...

2009-06-29T14:19:00.000-07:00

We have a winner :) Uh. Yeah. That's me, getting in a random self portrait...jumping on a hotel bed...more about that Later. Congratulations to Nikki - I'll send you an email so you can let me know where to send The Best-Dressed Knitted Bear off to :)

Dressed and Accessorized

2009-06-13T07:23:00.000-07:00

Need some ideas for fun knits for gifts? Well, whether you're knitting for a kid or a teddy bear afficionado, this book may be right up your alley.

The Best-Dressed Knitted Bear is a great book for making a variety of softies and includes patterns for six styles of bear (small, medium and large of varying complexity) along with outfits and accessories for each (a total of 18 different costumes). The bears' costumes/themes include the hula bear cover model, a bear ready for a safari adventure, a princess, a ballerina, a wizard, a dashing pirate, a cowboy and more. While the outfits in the book are designed to fit the knitted bears, there's no reason you couldn't knit these costumes up for a like-sized doll.

The small bears are about 8-inches in height, the medium bears about 11-inches in height, and the large bear about 14-inches in height.

Would you like my copy of the Best Dressed Knitted Bear? Leave me a comment and I'll do a random drawing in a couple weeks! (US only please)

Something Different

2009-06-10T19:28:00.000-07:00

I'm doing the more girly thing of late (if only on my hands) - the most recent manicure was chipped to heck so I decided I'd try my hand at free-hand application of french tips - the white polish I had isn't terribly opaque, so I dug up some polish I use for marking gear and used that for the tips over the white base...a little bold, but not bad :)

Can't we all just get along?

2009-06-08T07:08:00.000-07:00

Gmail has been crashing my Chrome of late...apparently it's a new bug. I've since upgraded to the Beta version (Chrome 2.0) and it's been much happier ever since. It just kinda cracked me up since both of them are Google products. Happy monday ;)

Do you have a discerning eye?

2009-06-05T12:36:00.000-07:00

Ever wonder how folks perceive colors in different ways? Perhaps its simply because they have difficulty discriminating between certain colors - this online hue test was quick and easy to take - and it showed me where I have some difficulty telling the difference between certain colors - I forgot to grab a screenshot of my finished "test" and test results, but I think I was probably about average with a score of 11. Different monitors may make it more challenging since the test is web based.

Speedy

2009-06-03T19:07:00.000-07:00

We've finally upgraded one of the computers in the house - it's been a minorly traumatic event, what with getting accustomed to Vista (we couldn't wait for Windows 7) and reinstalling all our apps (not to mention the appearance of the infamous BSOD (blue screen of death) within 24 hours of play). Now that it's all configured and happy, the new machine is much faster than the old P4 that it replaced - no surprise considering it's got a Quad Core Extreme processor inside, more RAM and a significantly better graphics card too.

This was our first foray into a non-branded OEM build - and I'm pretty happy with the results - we ordered the system fully customized - we weren't anticipating the see-through window case but apparently the graphics card is a bit of a monster, forcing us into a wider case to accomodate it.

Now that the desktop has been upgraded, I have to admit to having computer envy (and I tend to neglect my laptop in favor of the desktop when I can). I'm now pondering the replacement of the other home system - tho I'm hoping to hold out until the new OS is available...either that or I might give up and switch platforms. I've also been eyeing some of the new netbooks - any of you have one and care to share your experience?

Summer Heat

2009-06-01T12:33:00.001-07:00

I'm not sure where the time has gone - one moment it was May and the next thing I know it, 100 degree temps are here and June is upon me. Blogging last month was a bit of a disaster, due primarily due to lack of things to discuss - the day to day goings on have been a bit crazy, and the daily grind has well...been grinding on. The good news is I'm engaged and submerged in work, but it's generally left me a bit wrung out. So. Thanks to those of you who pop by :) I appreciate your looking in on my small corner of the internet. While I haven't been doing much in the way of dye-work I have brought in a new designer's portfolio over in the shop. I've also got some pending orders, hoping to beat the TNNA rush in June...stay tuned.

In knitting news, I've officially put Venizia into hibernation - she's apparently been on needles for over a year and I'm positive my gauge has changed....I need to decide if I'll tear back and start again or if I'll appropriate the yarn for another project. The knitting and spinning corner of the house has been re-organized, and I've picked back up with the Miter Squares...I'm at 7 squares and counting...I need quite a few more to make a throw or blanket that will cover the bed. Other projects are still on the needles, but I've been turning to non-charted relatively easy knitting of late. Sometimes the brain just needs simplicity, you know?

Tilted

2009-05-08T07:21:00.000-07:00

And Shifted.

I hadn't known about tilt-shift photography until a recent spate of photos in my flickr contacts cued me in. It's rather neat effect - the above photo is a tilt-shift fake of me at the Wave. I made it using Tilt-shift Maker. Someone pointed out that it actually looks like I'm a wee mini standing on some sort of wood-grain structure in this photo - with the color pushed, it does remind me of cedar or cinnamon.