FO = Naked Needles!

The needles are naked!

But my feet aren't :) You're looking at my first ever socks - quite luxurious being made of a wool/soysilk blend yarn, but quite plain as they are simply stockingette with 2x2 ribbing for the cuff. Details and another photo here.

While I was away and waiting for the poll results of what I should cast on for next, I settled for a little bit of hooking and I've just got a little bit of assembly to complete. In case you're wondering what the outcome was, it appears the winner was the Fair Isle Pirates hat, tied happily with Spinning. Since I don't have the yarn for the hat, I will probably cruise my sock patterns, do a little swatching and see what socks I might be able to cast on for next while I hunt for Hauk (my most convenient LYS does not carry Hauk - they might have Heilo, but it's not teflon treated, which would be a big advantage for an outdoor hat).

Help me decide - what shall I cast on for next?		Votes
They Call Them Pirates Hat - yarn needed!	21%	5
Miter Squares (for a blanket) - Cotton Ease Stashbuster	4%	1
Socks! (pattern TBD) - Sock Yarn Stashbuster	17%	4
Aran Sweater (I'm liking Irish Moss by Starmore) - Natural Wool Stashbuster	13%	3
Kitty Pi Bed - Reclaimed Felting Yarn Stashbuster	8%	2
Buttonhole Bag - Felting Wool Stashbuster	4%	1
French Market Bag - Felting Wool Stashbuster	4%	1
Minis (sweaters and socks) - ornaments for NEXT YEAR	0%	0
Lace scarf - Doucer et Soie Stashbuster	8%	2
forget the knitting, what happened to the spinning?!	21%	5
24 votes total

I'm Back!

I had intended to write a much more lengthy post explaining my absence, but I'm not feeling particularly well. I suspect it is post travel illness :( darn that recycled cabin air!

Anyhow, I was off on the East Coast for work.

Leaving my home, I nearly had my crochet hook confiscated (apparently it looks like a threatening object in the x-ray machine).

It was cold. There was a snow storm (just a mini one, but the panic was all the same it seems)

Ribby and Kepler were both featured during the trip with great success.

While I was over yonder in the land of cold whiteness, I visited my brother and sister in law, my big sis, and Marie. Marie is much more organized than I am when it comes to getting her shop going, and she even has stuff selling at various shops (including her own)! I must say thanks to her for carting me hither and yon to various knit shops (and talking spinning talk with me). I must say, I persevered in not adding to the Ridiculous Stash - hoping only to find some Dale of Norway Hauk with which to cast on for that Pirate Hat (since that's what seemed to be winning). I was nearly undone by some wool-silk Alchemy and some gorgeousness by Artfibers. Since the hat and the spinning were tied though, I figured I should either settle for Hauk or roving. Neither of which were available. Thank goodness.

Freezing Cold!

Seems the entire country is experiencing cold temps!

The good news is all my hand knits are getting used! Hooray!

Sadly, it seems I don't have that many hand knits that I can wear - I've given away a bunch of things (it turns out I don't actually own a handknit scarf of my own - I've gifted away all the ones I've ever knit!), and for a while, I was doing softies (3 penguins, catnip mice and 1 crochet kitty) most of which have all gone to new homes as well. The few cold weather knits that I have made have been worn - Ribby Cardi, Fuzzy Feet and Kepler!

In other news, my needles are now officially naked. Stay tuned for photos and details of the most recent FO! While I'm waiting for the poll to get populated, I've been spinning - I'm still trying to decide if that yarn will be left as singles or if it will be plied. If you haven't voted or left comments on what I should cast on for next, the poll is still open - go vote now (you can pick more than one! scroll to the bottom of this post to vote)

Stuff For Sale

Don't forget to place your vote on what I need to cast on for next! I'm rapidly closing on the end of the socks I have on needles...I'm just trying to run out the rest of the yarn in the cuff before I bind off (and then I will have *gasp* NAKED NEEDLES!)

The next round of items is up for sale on eBay.

I've got the following listed:

• Nearly New Doc Martens 10 hole boots
  color: black
  Size: UK7, US Mens 8, US Womens 9 (according to the Doc Martens site anyway)
  They are a bit too big for me, I usually wear a size 6 Doc Marten, but somehow got confused when I bought this pair.
• Matfer Professional Mandolin
  I even have the instructional video! It slices, dices, waffles and juliennes! Alright, maybe it doesn't dice, but it does make quick work of apples, potatoes, carrots and other veggies. I've just found I'm handier with my small cutlery collection and I just don't do waffle or ripple cut things often enough to keep it.
• Minolta 35mm semi-pro Maxxum 7000i SLR
  We've gone digital, and this excellent film camera is collecting dust.
  Included are:
• The body of the camera, of course
  
• Minolta Maxxum 28mm AF Lens
• Minolta 70-210mm AF Zoom Lens with Tiffen Sky 1A Filter
• Minolta 3200i Flash
• Canon Elph LT APS film Camera
  A nice little pocket size point and shoot that uses Advantix style film.

For full details, photos and to bid, please visit the individual listings on eBay.

Weekend Diversion

You people are definitely not all about the immediate gratification on knitting projects are you? ;) Right now, the fair isle pirate skull cap is winning, with the Aran Sweater running a close second. If you haven't done so already, go and add your votes and/or comments. I'll leave it open for another week then I guess I'll be casting on and doing your bidding ;)

In other news, I actually did a little baking this weekend. Nowhere near what I usually do for the holidays, and only one kind - it was a new recipe to me, pointed out by Mariko.

Want to drool over more photos?

Or just want the recipe? Both can be found here, at my poorly neglected Food Blog.

Next Knitting!

For those that are still furiously holiday knitting, don't forget to call 1-877-SOS-KNIT (toll free in the US and Canada!)

I had all these ambitions for holiday knitting, but quickly threw in the towel and will have to space my holiday knitting over the course of a year, I think. All I accomplished was this before I got distracted by selfish knitting. Of course, it doesn't help that I did rounds of scarves last year - and I still have a few people in my family who have not received anything hand knit yet - I'm sure I'll have to remedy that soon or people will think I'm playing favorites :P - or perhaps I should just learn from Kiki's comments on Gift Knitting.

Anyhow, I'm now pondering what next to cast on for - I'm planning on starting up some more amigurimi crochet, mostly because it's a little faster (or so it seems) but then again it could well be because they are all such small projects they fly off the hook quickly! Other than a pair of socks that are nearing their finish, I'm sans projects right now (amazing!!!)

So...what *shall* I cast on for next? I'm partially of a mind to get a whole mess of projects for felting going - that way I can stuff them all in the wash at the same time...but at the same time, there are plenty of other things to cast on for as well - I've got plenty of yarn in the stash that needs to be whittled down. What *is* a blogger to do? Why turn it over to her readers of course :) Please vote, I'll probably cast on for the top 2 items.

By the way, I may have finally found a pattern that might suit my husband (who has, to date, turned down the offers of sweaters, socks, slippers and clogs). What miracle pattern brought about this change? Hello Yarn's "We Call them Pirates." Of course, as luck would have it, I do not have yarn for that pattern - which would mean stash enrichment rather than stash busting - oh well ;)

Help me decide - what shall I cast on for next? (you can pick more than 1!)
	They Call Them Pirates Hat - yarn needed!
	Miter Squares (for a blanket) - Cotton Ease Stashbuster
	Socks! (pattern TBD) - Sock Yarn Stashbuster
	Aran Sweater (I'm liking Irish Moss by Starmore) - Natural Wool Stashbuster
	Kitty Pi Bed - Reclaimed Felting Yarn Stashbuster
	Buttonhole Bag - Felting Wool Stashbuster
	French Market Bag - Felting Wool Stashbuster
	Minis (sweaters and socks) - ornaments for NEXT YEAR
	Lace scarf - Doucer et Soie Stashbuster
	forget the knitting, what happened to the spinning?!
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Darn it, I missed out again!

*sigh* turns out SHF (sugar high friday) and IMBB joined forces for a virtual cookie swap. Of course, I was busy playing somewhere in remote canyons, and falling behind on my holiday duties...

The first half of the wrapup is posted and I will be perusing it closely so I can start up the baking machine and start on my holiday baking...while madly trying to finish holiday gift preparation and holiday card addressing! Go have a look, but make sure you're not hungry when you do - who can resist all the photos of all the lovely cookies?! (not me, that's for certain!)

Just in time!

Kepler was finished last night, and will be a very welcome addition to my wardrobe, especially since the very limited sweater season is upon us down here in the Desert Southwest! I plan to wear it to a holiday party this weekend for its official debut :)

I'm especially pleased as I managed to finish it within the one month I allotted myself!

Full details, as always, are up for your perusal at my Finished Objects Blog.

Just two days...

until the end of the month. I've got me two days to finish Kepler, and I'm fairly certain it can be done. And not a moment too soon, what with cold temps finally arriving in Arizona and a business trip planned for the northeast!

I've got two sleeves, knit in the round...and a body, knit in the round, split at the armscye and rejoined at the shoulder (thank goodness for three needle bind off). Tonight's project is endless fussing with pins and a crochet hook - I'm going to attempt a crochet seam to join the sleeves to the body - I don't have a less bulky matching yarn (at least I don't think I do), so hopefully the seam won't be too bulky. It'll be an adventure, that's for certain - this is only my second garment, and this one with set in sleeves....and with an initial impression (to me anyhow) that the sleeve caps are a bit smaller than the armscye. Oy. Wish me luck, I'm going to need it.

In other news, thank goodness I found some yarn and snatched it up - I ran out of my last ball of original yarn as I was finishing the body - and what luck, the yarn I bout was the same dyelot! Who woulda thunk it!

While I'm fishing for tips, I may as well fish for more pins on my Frappr Map - if you're not from the US (and I know there are a few of you out there), don't forget to click the "Not in the US" link (under the area to enter ZipCode) and you should be able to add yourself. Not feeling like shouting out? You can probably fool the system by entering a couple spaces or even just a "." mark. I'd love to see where people are hailing from. Maybe one of these days I'll launch a contest, that's sure to get y'all goin ;)

I love mail!

Somehow I lucked out - over the course of Thanksgiving week, various and sundry packages arrived (granted, some of them were purchases I had made, but still, the fun is to be had in the opening!)

Amongst the pile of mail was the November Sampler!

Some of the favorite findings inside included:

• 1" round buttons from a small herd of Sampler Contributors
• Shrinky Dinks are in - several shrinky dinks that will be converted into stitch markers from various Sampler Contributors
• an Embellishment Sampler from Speckled Egg (hooray for vintage ribbon!)
• a festive sparkler candle and decorated match box from Blossom
• minty lip balm from Botanical Earth - mmm organic!
• and adorable cards and stationary from Fern House Studio, Young and With It Industries, and Demarco Designs

Not only did I get my Sampler, I got my first Holiday Card of the season - which has just made me realize how far behind I am. eeek!

Happy Belated Turkey Day!

I have lots and lots of things that I spent the last week celebrating :)

I hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving.

I should be back to regular posting soon!

Interesting.

Apparently, according to this, courtesy of Raquel, I am mostly misplaced.

The top 24 places I should take up residence are as follows:
1) Medford, Oregon
2) Albuquerque, New Mexico
3) Reno, Nevada
4) Santa Fe, New Mexico
5) Salem, Oregon
6) St. George, Utah
7) Corvallis, Oregon
8) Las Vegas, Nevada (what?!)
9) Eugene, Oregon
10) Bellingham, Washington
11) Provo-Orem, Utah
12) Fort Collins, Colorado
13) Portland, Oregon
14) Boise, Idaho
15) Colorado Springs, Colorado
16) Carson City, Nevada
17) Bend, Oregon
18) Anchorage, Alaska (interesting)
19) Ogden, Utah
20) Missoula Montana
21) Las Cruces, New Mexico
22) Great Falls, Montana
23) Flagstaff, Arizona
24) Boulder, Colorado

I think I was most surprised that Oregon kept making an appearance in my list...perhaps I should have never left!

On that note, y'all should go stick your pins on the map - really. It's fun. And it's neat to see where people are hailing from. I know y'all are out there...some from as far away as Australia and Japan!

Everybody's Doin' It!

Frappr!
I've been watching my stats and have noticed I have readers from all over the place, but I'm a graphical type, and prefer to see things rather than just having them presented in Text...

I've created a Frappr Map! Go and add yourself! It's cool, it's fun, you can share a photo :) And you can leave a message or even a link to your blog, provided you precede your URL with http:// it will be smart enough to make it clickable!

On Kepler, I'm on track to finish by the end of this month - both sleeves are done, and since I knit em in the round, there's no seaming :D I'm done with body shaping, and am knitting like mad so I can start with the armhole shaping soon!

Fruits of Fall

Back where I grew up, fall was the time of year when magnificent colors would fill the trees, there would be a certain brisk bite and scent in the air, and it would be a fine time in general for being outside.

Fall also brings to mind apple harvests. While I love all kinds of fruits, I yearn for apples of old, not those strangely perfect Washington Red Delicious - which beneath their fine appearance, these days anyway, are bland and often times mealy. A few years back, I discovered Braeburn apples, and they served me well as both eating and cooking apples (mmmm apple crisp!).

A few years back, I traveled back to my home state and stumbled across a magnificent apple - the Honeycrisp, a hybrid cross between a Macoun and a Honeygold - and originates from the University of Minnesota (go Gophers!) For a time, it seemed HoneyCrisps were available only in Minnesota for a brief period post harvest - every now and again, desperate for good apple eating, I'd mail order in a box of Honeycrisps. Accustomed to having to settle for boring and common apple varieties at my local grocery store, imagine my surprise when I found a whole display of Honeycrisps the other day! I've stocked up and both I and my refrigerator are happy indeed. Incidentally, the limited availability of these applies likely has something to do with the fact that they are patented.

Every Sock Knitter Needs a Pair!

Have you *seen* such cool footwear?!
available Here! (no affiliation, photo from offering store)

Here I thought I was going to have to only wear my hand knit socks around the house if I wanted to be able to admire them properly....

I've still got plans to knit some of the more ornate socks from Anna Zilboorg's Socks for Sandals & Clogs - and having shoes like these would make it even more fun to knit em, as they could be displayed in all their glory!

Anyone try em? The soles do look a little thin for much walking - granted, this can be fixed by adding an insert, assuming the footbed isn't pre-molded.

Note to self: Add to Covet List :D

Business Growth!

I'm in the process of expanding my business. Prices have not yet been set, I'm currently "benchmarking" since there is no MSRP that I am aware of.

I'm pleased to say I'll be offering a selection of fine fibers from Ashland Bay - I'll likely carry a varied selection of multicolored Merino, Merino/Tencel, and Merino/Silk. I might get into some alpaca and angora blends, but I'm as yet undecided. I'll likely also offer some undyed merino, merino/mohair and Blue Faced Leicester Tops. Once I get the dyeworks going (*sigh* if only I didn't have this pesky day job!) I will likely have some hand dyed rovings, as well as some hand painted yarns. Of course, this is a work in progress, and I'm going to need to decide on an inventory before anything happens.

In any case, if you have preferred colors (either for fiber or for handpaint adventures, I'd love to hear em!

Cables in Triplicate

I've been cabling to the exclusion of all other activities lately, and I'm enjoying watching the braided bands churning off the needles (yes, those are three cable bands, and yes, they are all being knit at the same time. I'm impatient that way). I had cast on for Kepler, then realized that seaming the cable bands were going to be a smallish nightmare. They were all frogged back and were re-cast on using a looping provisional cast on (not recommended, the loops are rather floppy and untidy - I think a crochet cast on would come off much more uniform.) After four cable repeats, I kitchnered two of the bands together for the sleeves, and have carried on with the hip band....that one was Kitchnered by headlamp last night at about 1am.

I'm slowing coming to a horrifying realization that I might not have enough yarn for this sweater. The yardage on the yarn I am using is slightly different (though the gauge is the same) than the recommended yarn. I had 10 balls to start, and I've already used 5 (though it is fair to say I'm part way up the sleeves, and I've started on the body of the sweater). I had hoped to use this knit as a stash buster, and if I liked it, I have enough yarn in a different color to make another (incidentally I have more balls of yarn in the other color, but something possessed me to knit it up in this color first.) Though even knowing this, I'm determined to carry on....like a slow motion knitting train wreck (the yarn in question is discontinued...did I forget to mention that?). While the cable bands look very defined up close, I think the tweediness of the yarn slightly interferes with them. Incidentally, I may have lucked out and found a source for some spare balls of yarn (though certainly they won't be of the same dye lot) - I'll have to call tomorrow to inquire after their inventory (they are closed Mondays).

What Counts as Selling Out?

**warning, no knitting or spinning content in this post**

Those of you who actually know me know I'm in the throes of trying to plan my way out of a corporate career and have been for quite some time. Unsuccessfully so far. I dream of the day that I can make a living doing things I actually enjoy - and it doesn't even have to be a big living - I live simply. I don't thinkI ask for too much. While I am fond of food, I don't gravitate towards expensive delicacies.

I've got ideas brewing. Some of my hand crafts are already up for sale (*sniff* sadly, with no takers). I try to price according to material cost and labor, but there's one of the kickers. I don't have wholesale sources for things like fiber for my spinning, or for those magnets either. I've got thoughts on shirts, notecards, calendars and the like - but I'm fussy when it comes to quality...which is one of the reasons that part is moving so slowly...And as far as labor goes, anyone who sells crafts should be valuing their time higher than minimum wage. It's skilled labor after all! But talk about minimum wage is something that will get me going on a completely different tangent so I'll stop while I'm ahead.

I'm all for earning an honest buck, and earning the buck by passive means is even better - which brings me to the crux of this post. This blog does not see nearly the visitation of one of my domains. The domain in question does not earn any money, and is a labor of love. Yeah, we plan on doing something with the content eventually, publishing in various formats come to mind (but that also is a completely different discussion). So far, the domain has remained ad free. But recently, because of its high traffic, we've been approached by companies looking for adspace...not to mention the possibility of putting up other ads - adsense is the first that comes to mind. While the money brought in by advertising will help defray costs, and may actually bring in a very very tiny income, the internal struggle remains, and results in turmoil. I don't like being bombarded by ads. I think the United States culture is ridiculously wasteful and consumptive...but at the same time it could put me a few cents closer to my dream...so tempting, yet repugnant at the same time. See the dilemma?

Flappin' in the wind

mmm. Please ogle the detailed shot of Cozy's stitches as she lays in repose on my hopbush in the back yard.

Full details and what not on Cozy can be found here.

Rejoice! The ban on new knitting projects has been lifted! At long last, I have finished my longest UFO! In celebration, I've cast on for Kepler. It's lovely. It's cabley. And best of all, I've taught myself to cable without a cable needle...that's right, stitches, flapping in the breeze, flirtin with disaster! I could have it no other way. I was going to put an eye out messin with that cable needle nonsense...Stay tuned, you might get a preview of the cable bands soon - impatient me, I'm doin em all at once - Cable overload for me, and much fun for the cats, what with me juggling three yarn balls!

Respun and ready to go!

A while back, you may recall I was unspinning some singles that came with some roving I bought. Well, after a weekend at home with my spindles, I had a small pile of merino-angora "eggs" (that's what they looked like after I pulled em off the spindle shaft)...I took a few eggs, paired em up and respun them into some rather luxurious yarn :)

It was definitely labor intensive, because even with the unspinning, the merino/angora retained a little bit of twist, and with several strips paired together for drafting, it was a mite hard on the fingers (having to try to make sure that each strand was untwisted and drafting smoothly). I'm glad I paired the two colors together - it made for a nice tweedy look and the ultra soft ecru made up for the not as soft silver.

House Cleaning!

Well, we've gone thru the house, and identified a mess of items to either sell or donate away.

The first batch is the kitchen stuff listed on the sidebar. They are now listed on eBay. Over the course of time, I'll be adding some formal dresses - all very nice, and still stylish, I just can't get into them anymore, and honestly, I can't think of a time when I'll be needing such dresses again.

Items that don't sell or aren't worth listing will be shuttled off to the local Goodwill or consignment shop.

Joining up again

In honor of being about a quarter of the way thru my last skein for Cozy, I have joined the Kepler Along in anticipation of casting on for my new project. Not only is Kepler a nice looking sweater, the pattern is free, and I have enough yarn to do it in three different colorways! Hooray for Stash Busting!

Nearly Neverending

While I will finish eventually, it certainly seems as if Cozy is a nearly never ending project. Cast on over a year ago, she's waited patiently as I've gotten distracted with other things, and on occasion seriously frustrated and fed up. I've come a loooong way it seems. What used to be a rather challenging lace repeat is no problem, I can even work it while "watching" TV.

It's nearing time to rejoice - Cozy and I have reached an agreement. I've nixed the fifth ball of yarn (setting it aside for some worsted weight socks) and will be calling her done after this ball I *just* joined is finished...it's not quite time to celebrate, as it's no small ball of yarn, I've got nearly 200 yards of yarn to knit into Cozy before I'm done....but at least I'm nearing completion!

In preparation, anyone know if Wool Ease can be blocked? (yeah, I knit her out of Wool Ease. It's a Cozy for the car. It needs to be durable and easy to wash.)

Goin' into Business

Well, I've always wanted to try to earn some money off my crafts, so I'm making a bigger attempt at it now.

While the stock is rather low right now, I have gone ahead and opened a shop :) I still have a shop space at Etsy, but I've decided to launch my own to cut down fees.

Please pay it a visit here, and spread the word!

The Calendar is up!

the Knitty Calendar is now available :)

Check it out! My Pasha is Ms. January! What a way to start the New Year :D

Baa Baa Black Sheep...

Have you any wool?

Yes Sir, Yes Sir....way more than 3 bags full!

I finally got around to cataloguing my yarn and fiber, and it's a little bit shameful. I have 11.5 kilos of yarn (almost 25.5 lbs!) - and that's just the yarn. That does not include my piles of fiber - of which there seems to be a somewhat alarming amount in and of itself.

I've discovered that while I enjoy knitting lace, I have very little lace weight yarn. By far, I have mostly worsted weight yarns, and most are natural fibers. Yarns vary from a pile of recently discontinued Cotton Ease (earmarked for a miter square blanket) to a pair of skeins of super luxurious bulky Classic Elite Sinful (100% cashmere - earmarked for nothing other than gazing at adoringly and a little bit of petting now and again).

I've put some of them up for sale/swap - in case you're reading via RSS feed, these include:

• Lion Brand Homespun
• Gothic, 1 skein
• Edwardian, 1 skein
• Paton's Beachcomber
• Dark Blue, 9 intact skeins + 1 full skein, partially unraveled
• Steinbach Wolle Maxi Ombre
• Yellow/Brown variegated, 1 skein
• Green variegated, 1 skein
  
• Southwest Trading Co Bamboo
• Purple, 1 skein
• Southwest Trading Co Oasis
• Canyon, 1 skein

If you're interested in any of it, leave a comment, or click on the sidebar to contact me directly :)

Dreadfully Remiss

I've been terrible at keeping track of the food goings on, but recent posts on my favorite foodie blogs have reminded me that I've just missed out on two fun IMBB events: Sugar High Friday (featuring dark chocolate, my favorite!) and the original Is My Blog Burning (this last one featuring souffles - not as intimidating as you might think)! IMBB is currently experimenting with Technorati rollups, so the unofficial results are available for perusal while the host does the manual rollup. Incidentally I also missed out on a new IMBB event, Cooking the Old Fashioned Way, AKA Disaster Preparedness which sounds like something I should be reasonably good at - especially considering how tricked out I am in terms of outdoor equipment, which I presume, I would grab in the event of a disaster. Ah well, go check em out :) you'll be glad you did!

Certifiable.

Some might argue I'm bonkers, but that's okay.

While I continue to churn away on Cozy (yes, I'm still working on Cozy, and I'm not allowing myself to cast on for anything else until that darn FO is finally finished!), and my experimental Karaoke Socks, I am also unspinning some yarn. That's right, unspinning. In my box of fantastically fluffy merino and angora were some balls of spun (but not yet set!) yarn - Because they are a bit slubby and aren't of the same thickness I would spin, I've decided to try to unspin the yarn to reclaim the fiber...so far so good, and I'm getting some lovely pencil-roving like lengths. I'll probably bundle a couple lengths together when I respin it so I have more fiber to work with to set the thickness as I see fit.

As for Cozy, we had a little chat - she's agreed to be 1 skein shorter than planned, I've agreed to knit her til she's done. As for what's happening with the other skein, I think I'm going to cast on for one of the Sandal Socks by Anna Zilboorg - after all, the yarn is worsted weight, and if I remember, her gauge is 6 stitches to the inch! Perfect, and close enough to an instant gratification project for me!

Sweet Sweet Handspun

Mmm. Delicious Yarn.

Lovely, isn't it? Looks a mite different now that it's plied, but more beautiful, I think - don't remember what they looked like unplied? Click for a refresher!

Incidentally, I'm an enabler...they're for sale.

Details? Why of course! Available here.

Bunny on the Brain

This morning, as I was headed out to my car I spotted a bunny in the driveway! The cottontail community must be getting healthy as I've been spotting rabbits in the neighborhood - even caught one wriggling under my side fence once though I'm really not sure what it found enticing in my back yard.

To add to Bunny madness, I got a pile of Merino-Angora (50/50 - can you say soft!) fiber - I won't call it roving, since it seems to be in semi-squashed batt form. I have about a pound of "Ecru" and two pounds of Silver-Grey color - I might blend the two as I spin them, to get a slightly tweedy yarn - I'm not decided yet though. I'm thinking of making a sweater out of it once the yarn is spun up, but I haven't quite decided yet as I hear angora is ridiculously warm.

Speaking of bunnies, have you ever seen an Angora rabbit in person? They are quite adorable - and rather funny looking after they've been harvested for their fur!

Happy Tacks!

Those fancy colorful baubles there are thumbtacks, believe it or not...if you go look at my finished objects blog, you will actually be able to see the shadow of the pin part of the tack in the close up shot! Neat, huh?

Hoo hoo! I'm published!

Or I will be anyway. This marks the 2nd and 3rd calendars I'll have photos published in :)

The first was a canyoneering calendar for the American Canyoneering Association - for 2005.

The second is the Knitty 1st annual calendar - if you recall, my entries featured Pasha...one of those penguiny photos will be in the calendar, can you guess which one?

and the third is actually the 2nd annual American Canyoneering Association calendar :)

A little cake, for all day munching

I woke this morning with an urge for cake. After purchasing some yogurt earlier this week for some curry experimentation, and then just not being in the mood for curry or the prepwork involved, the yogurt has sat, with nothing to contribute itself to. I generally don't like yogurt, especially that of the plain variety, but I do find it useful for cooking.

Wander over this way and see what became of said yogurt.

Pardon me. I have cake to tend to :)

All Wound Up

They look much more stunning wound up, don't they?

These three happy yarn balls are fresh off the bobbins, and are ready for plying. It was absolutely mesmerizing, winding them off the bobbins into center pull balls - and once wound up, they look just gorgeous. You can see the various colors in the yarn better in ball form than on the bobbin, I think.

Each one is about 90g (3 ounces) in weight, I can't speak for the yardage yet since I'm going to ply them up - stay tuned for results!

Singles Anyone?

Incidentally, you can click on that photo for a gratuitously large shot of singles...

I'm so pleased...you are looking at three bobbins full of singles I've spun :) A total of 10 ounces of blue faced leicester space dyed (not by me, I bought it that way) roving converted into fingering weight singles. Because I personally have not had much luck knitting with singles that thin, I plan to ply these up - 2-ply most likely, as I've not had much luck at all with Navajo plying (3-ply to keep the colorway intact) - I made a right mess the last time I tried that.

It is possible that the yarn is knittable as is (well, once the twist is set anyway) since I have a tendency to over spin, but I figure why risk the frustration? Once plied, I will likely offer the lot up for sale, as individual 2 ply skeins. While they all came from the same roving, the way they were split, some sections had more blue and purple and some sections had more pinks. Stay tuned for plied results!

A Fantastic ROAK

While I'm not an official member, I've been ROAK'd none the less. What is a ROAK? It's a random act of kindness. And I'm one of the multitudes of recipients of the ROAK planned by Elizabeth of My Favorite Things. After collecting all kinds of recipes from various knit bloggers, she formatted them, printed them up and bound them into a spiral bound book...272 pages of favorite recipes from various knit bloggers! She then proceeded to send a copy to each of the contributors! My copy arrived last night, and I've been perusing it for dinner ideas since then. Thanks Elizabeth!

You may notice the sidebar has been updated to include the various things I'm selling off. Please do contact me if you're interested in any of it. I'll probably keep it listed on my blog for a bit before taking it off to Ebay to try my luck there. I suspect various items will make an appearance as we actually go through our house and start clearing things out.

Apparently, I should go Purple.

No further cleaning has happened...and few things have found new homes. I figure I'll try here first, then perhaps post over to ebay.

Last night was spent going through a ginormous box of baseball cards - with a few football cards thrown in for good measure. Does anyone know how best to go about selling one's baseball card collection? (not mine, it's my husband's - I never would have guessed!)

Other things up for sale/trade:
a six inch black bladed Kyocera Chef's knife. It's in good order, and might need a sharpening (send it to Kyocera for sharpening) depending on how you like your cutlery, never been dropped or washed in the dishwasher.

In case you are wondering what's to be bought if I manage to sell off enough stuff? I'm drooling over digital SLR camera.

Oh and about that purple:

Your Hair Should Be Purple

Intense, thoughtful, and unconventional. You're always philosophizing and inspiring others with your insights.

What's Your Funky Inner Hair Color?

Cleanin' Frenzy

I'm not sure what is going on, but my husband has gotten on a cleaning kick again. I think it had something to do with some crazy PBS show that was playing in the background this weekend about cleaning up clutter...it must have worked its way subliminally into his mind because the next thing I knew, the front closet was being rearranged, and jackets and barely worn shoes were being placed in a pile for "redistribution."

I managed to escape unscathed so far, but will probably not escape for long.

Some items I know that will likely be looking for a new home include:

-A lightly used Omega 4000 Pulp Ejection Juice Extractor -why? I prefer smoothies, and love my Vitamix much more dearly.
-A lightly used Matfer Mandoline - because a sharp knife in my hand is much faster than fussing with a mandoline, even though I can't make crinkle or waffle cuts with a knife :D

In the way of Fiber, I'm likely going to be looking for a home for some of the following:
-Several skeins of Lion Brand Chenille - in various colors - I think I have a skein of purple, 2 skeins of black and quite a number of skeins (6 or 7) in Peacock (I think...actually, it's 8. I counted when I got home.)
-Numerous balls of Patons Beachcomber in dark blue

Any takers? Make me an offer...

just plain bored.

*sigh* I'm tied into completing some gift knitting and have high hopes for completing the other projects on needles before getting distracted and starting another project...

...sadly, I'm bored bored bored! The gift knits are easy knits, can be done anywhere, but I'm tired of knitting them (scarves. Two of them. At the same time. On the same needles. What was I thinking?!) The other unfinished projects? Cozy, of course - with 2 huge skeins of yarn to go (but I'm half way done!). I've considered ripping the thing out, and using the yarn for something else - but I don't know if I have enough yardage...the current candidate for the yarn should I be possessed to rip, is a wrap/throw from Alice Starmore...mmmm....aran knitting! The other project? Socks :D I'm on the cuffs...K2P2 ribbing...I've only got about a centimeter done...and it goes FOREVER because it's on US3 needles! The good news is I knit both socks together on the same circular needle (hooray for the magic loop - it's saved me from Second Sock Syndrome) so at least once I'm done, I'll have a pair of socks :D

Anyone else hitting a crafting slump?

BTW, I love my wheel...gratuitous yarn photos will be appearing sometime in the not too distant future :D

the Squid ate my Eggplant

...among other things.

Here at Half Baked, we seem to be troubled with minor technical difficulties....
First, yahoo groups is misbehaving, delivering messages all out of whack. It makes for wonderfully disjointed reading. Next, my email for my volunteer job kept wanting to do maintenance and kept logging me out (gotta love web based mail!) and finally, it seems I can't get into a couple sites from work today - one of them is SuperEggplant and I'm dying to find out what books she fetched from Kinokuniya (sadly bloglines truncated the entry, thus the tantalizing knowledge of a new craft book found...but which one?! Oh the curiosity is tremendous!) and it's not letting me into my volunteer webmail either. Both are returning various errors...but I've verified it is *just me* that seems to be affected. My computer has been rebooted, given a stern lecture and a time out, all to mostly no avail...after several tries using multiple browsers, I was finally successful in getting into my webmail using FireFox...but sadly, SuperEggplant's doings remain a mystery, a victim to a 113 no route found error.

Oh, and what's up with the Squid you ask? Beats me, I'm not IT savvy, but from what I can gather, it refers to this squid.

Technical Difficulties

My blog(s) seem(s) to have technical difficulties - pertaining specifically to photos uploaded directly to blogger....anyone else noticing these problems? The problem: The photos don't seem to load reliably - sometimes they appear, sometimes not. When they don't appear, often times the problem is fixed by refreshing the browser - other times, it doesn't work at all. I guess I'll have to post to blogger for assistance, and then if it's not resolved I'll have to move the photos to Flickr and update the blog accordingly. *sigh*

In other news, I did a little baking this weekend - if you are as partial to chocolate as I am, click here for details!

A day to Lament

Attn: If you have not already yet discovered, the Matcha Green Tea Frappuccino is no more.

It has officially been "discontinued" and replaced with "Pumpkin Spice Latte" or some such.

*mope*

Officially Thirty-Something!

Today is my Birthday :D And I'm officially a thirty something now. I think I'm starting to feel older, but I'm kinda hoping it's really just this stupid lingering cold.

But enough about that. Look! Look what my wonderful husband got me!! It's a wheel!!!!

Details, you ask? It's a Kromski Minstrel, in Walnut finish. Double treadle, double drive (though I have it set up as single drive with scotch tension right now). I've got the optional distaff on it (looks more castle like, no?) and an arch-style lazy kate (not in the photo). I've also got an extra large whorl for it, so I can try to teach myself how to spin much bulkier yarns (I tend to spin singles that are a bit thicker than fingering weight) .

It did require assembly, but it came together with hardly any tools (just a Phillips head screwdriver) and no difficulty at all. And yes, I have spun on it - there was a little bit of thick and thin going on at first, but I think I've gotten the hang of it now. I tried Navajo plying, but was having no luck with it - neither on my wheel nor on my spindle...so I just went back to 2-ply - since i was too eager to ply up the first yarn off my wheel :D The yarn is currently sitting on a Niddy Noddy waiting for me to give it a bath to set the twist.

Oh - In case you're wondering, Marble doesn't know how to spin - but she does show surprising amount of interest in the treadles.

Freaking out about Holiday Knitting?

Not me...not yet anyway :D I've got only a foot done on each of the scarves (of which there will be two) - so I've got about 5 feet more to go! yeek. All other knitting has since been set aside, including my socks - and all they have left is boring K2P2 Ribbing for the cuff for as long as I wish to make them (they'll be slouchy socks I think - so maybe 3 or 4 inches of K2P2 - sounds all fine and good, but it's on US3 needles...so it takes longer than I would expect)

In any case, if you are freaking out about holiday knitting, the Harlot has some help and advice. Call and listen to her at 877-SOS-KNIT. It's a hoot. And it's free in the US and Canada :D

Birthday Goodies

Not only did Amy treat me to crafting and Fruit Tarts, she also spoiled me with some birthday presents!! Such fun and colorful wrapping paper :) Tied together with coordinating yarn - and on the outside, a carebear and a skein of blue yarn - bet you'll never guess where it's from....Target! LOL! Off to the side, you'll see the fruits of my crafting time with Amy - she took pity on my pooor hands and we polymer clay'd my crochet hooks. Haven't had a chance to use them yet, but they certainly seem easier to handle now that they have proper handles on them. In addition to helping me bulk up my crochet hooks, Amy took some time to show me the basics of working with polymer clay - unfortunately, I can't show off my attempts (or the cute ebi pins Amy made while demonstrating manipulation of Fimo to me) as my camera refused to focus on such small items.

Anyway, I'm sure you're wondering what was in the wrapping paper...it was books! I looooove books!

I am now a proud owner of the ever popular Teva Durham's Loop-d-Loop - and the first project tagged is the leaf pullover :) I sure hope I have yarn in the stash already for it!

The second book is a Japanese sewing craft book - handmade Zakka. ISBN: 4579110080. It has a bunch of adorable little sewing projects inside...if I could just get past my issues with cutting fabric! LOL :)

Thanks so much Amy, you spoil me!

Pre-Birthday Weekend

What a fun weekend :)

Amy of Amyville had Chris and me over for some lunch and crafting, complete with surprise birthday treats for me! She's so thoughtful, Amy remembered I have a thing about AJ's Fruit Tarts :) and had some on hand for dessert! I felt so special and spoiled - thanks Amy!

Chris also had a surprise for each of us - handmade purses/knitting bags in our favorite colors! Mine is blue, Amy's Pink and Orange, of course! Perfect for storing a pair of knitting projects (I know, because I happened to have two - actually three projects on hand if you count both scarves I have on the same needle!)

And check out the inside - a zippered pocket and one that closes with velcro - Chris has thoughtfully placed the loop part facing out, so if you happen to have exposed yarn, it won't get chewed!

If you're interested in one for yourself, she's able to take requests on color :)

Pop over to her blog and leave her a comment - she's planning on opening an online shop soon.

Thanks Chris! I love it :D

Last bits of Summer

A little bit of summer trapped in a jar to welcome in the Autumn!

What is it? It's Prickly Pear Jelly! Made by a friend down in Tucson, and gifted to me. Yum! While my favorite season is autumn, summer in the southwest does have its delights - and prickly pear fruit is one of them. Unfortunately, none of my personal prickly pear seem to bear large fruit - I suspect part of the problem is they are cultivated for their appearance rather than their fruit - and I'm sure the fact that I don't supplement their watering doesn't help matters.

In any case, if you happen to have prickly pears on hand, and wish to make jelly, I hear the trick to making it gel is to throw in a couple unripe ones - as fully ripened prickly pears don't have much pectin.

September's Sampler!

September's Sampler Arrived - it's like getting a semi-surprise self gift in the mail!

Some of my favorite items are pictured above...they include:

• A polymer clay pendant from spicey creations
• A glass bead stitchmarker from fuzz monkey boutique (coming soon!), not photoed...oops.
• A Cletus Fetus from fetopia.net - odd, but cute in its own way
• A cute monster button from...oh dear. I've either lost the label or it wasn't labeled!
• A music themed button from a minor thread
• Some lovely stationary from the creative cupcake
• and a bi-fold pouch from pink thread & more

Darn it, I missed!

I missed my official Blogiversary. How sad is that?

In the past year I've gone from knitting rectangles, very nice, but they were just rectangles...to knitting lace, the occasional garment, and I'm still cranking on my first official pair of socks. I've learned to spin, to support my fiber addiction...and I've learned how to crochet :) Not bad.

I've continued to cook and play in the kitchen, tho not much that has been blog worthy...

And I've managed to make friends with people who have somehow, one way or another, stumbled into my little piece of the internet. Thanks for popping by and dropping the occasional comment :) I appreciate each and every one!

Here's to more blogging and more random friendships!

C is for Cookie!

I love chocolate chip cookies. Especially fresh out of the oven with a tall glass of cold milk. Mmmmmm.

While I don't have a set recipe for the Chinese feast I cooked up in celebration of my Lunar birthday (a huge vat of hot and sour soup and fried dumplings :P), I do happen to have a link to the recipe I used for these tasty chocolate chip cookies.

Head over here for the details.

And no, the chocolate chip cookies were not served with the Chinese food - we had mooncake for dessert, of course!

Celebrating the Harvest Moon

And my lunar birthday! I was born on the same day as the harvest moon in the Chinese calendar - and as such, I mark the date with the Mooncake festival every year :) I am partial to yolk free mooncakes, even though they are not considered as auspicious as those with yolks inside. This year I couldn't decide between Mung Bean cakes or Lotus Seed cakes...so I bought a box of each. Yum!

Early Presents are the Best!

While I was delivering some Kilt Lifter to her and her husband as a thank you gift, Raquel surprised me with an early birthday present! Thank you Raquel! Isn't it lovely? Creative and reusable packaging (wooden wine bottle case) stuffed full with eight ounces of stunning blue-hued merino/tussah silk roving! Hooray! I haven't tried yet, but I suspect the wooden case will be just the perfect size to stuff my spindle inside along with some roving for a little bit of protection. I love it. And in my favorite color too :)

Fire up those needles...

it's nearing holiday time.
That's right, Halloween candy is in the aisles...and next thing you know it it'll be stuff-yerself-with-Turkey day and then the official count down begins.

As such, the knitting needles have been pressed into action - various gifts are in the planning stage, others are in the execution stage :)

Of course, there's also some Personal Knitting going on...a pair of socks, Cozy (which actually got worked on this past weekend - 24 more rows done, and nearing the end of my 2nd skein of yarn - at least I *think* it's the end of the 2nd skein...I can't remember - the poor thing has been stuck on needles longer than I can remember. ) I'm flirting with the idea of knitting Leaves in Relief, though I'm thinking of doing it with a cabled braid down the sleeve instead of all those twining leaves....I certainly have the yarn for it - 1 full kilo of worsted wt cream colored Irish yarn...

Citrine!

Look! She's done! More details on her creation can be found here. She and Pasha are good friends - and they are going to be winging their way to a pair of sweet little girls who have been evacuated from their home due to Hurricane Katrina. I suspect when they evac'd they didn't take many toys, so hopefully these two will bring a bit of brightness to them.

Cat Bits

I've been taking a break from knitting to crochet....
... and I've found that while I can crochet reasonably quickly, and I love the fact that there's only one loop to keep track of, crocheting hurts my hand :( I don't know if it's the way I hold the hook, or if the hook handle is simply too small...

In any case, I have completed all the bits and pieces for a Matcha/Skimima/Flo & José - like kitty...and finishing syndrome has set in. What is it with finishing that makes me want to procrastinate and set it aside for later? Most of the hard work is done...all that is left is to put all the pieces together, after all!

All Skeined Up!

:) amazing the difference lighting makes...I am continuing to struggle to get accurate representation of the color of this yarn. Anyhow, there they are...all skeined up :) Aren't they lovely?

Pure Nerd.

Pure Nerd

69 % Nerd, 26% Geek, 21% Dork

For The Record: A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia. A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one. A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions. You scored better than half in Nerd, earning you the title of: Pure Nerd.

The times, they are a-changing. It used to be that being exceptionally smart led to being unpopular, which would ultimately lead to picking up all of the traits and tendences associated with the "dork." No-longer. Being smart isn't as socially crippling as it once was, and even more so as you get older: eventually being a Pure Nerd will likely be replaced with the following label: Purely Successful.

THE NERD? GEEK? OR DORK? TEST

Prettily Plied

I'm very pleased to report that plying goes a lot faster than spinning :)

For a more details and bigger photos, go look here.

Of course, I haven't decided what I'm going to do with this yarn yet...I've got plenty more roving in this colorway - I think I bought 8 ounces total.

I'm currently contemplating keeping the small hank for myself to play with while offering up the larger hank for sale. In case you're wondering, the larger hank is 50g (about 2.5 oz) and contains about 79 yards (72.5 meters) of yarn.

Ready to Ply!

Well...Almost Ready to ply anyway :) I've got a full spindle of lovely Mojave colored Merino Roving spun up into singles - or one long single anyway. What is the proper terminology - does anyone know?

The plan is to transfer the yarn from the spindle onto a ballwinder so I can try to ply this into a 2 ply yarn using a center pull ball - I was going to try the Andean bracelet trick, but I'm worried that 1) I will wind up winding it too tightly around my hand and 2) the yarn will be prone to twisting on itself making a snarled mess.

Lack of Fiberly Pursuits

Well, work has got me in a slump. But perhaps you all have noticed...especially since I've been dreadfully remiss in updating my blog!

I seem to have recently fallen back into reading - mostly a wide variety of escapist reading...every now and again I work on a crochet project...but I've discovered that crochet seems to aggravate tendonitis in my hand. If I'm not reading or crocheting, I've actually found myself determined to completely fill my spindle so I can get to plying. It has to be close - it seems I've only got a few millimeters of unoccupied space before the spun yarn is flush with the edge of the whorl - the spindle still spins fine, and the accumulated fiber is not threatening to slide off the spindle shaft, so I guess I still have some more yarn to spin before I'm "officially" done. Interestingly enough, I've nothing on knitting needles at this time! How odd!

Gotta Love Technology

Well, it's been a while - needless to say, work has been keeping me plenty busy - the weekend was spent getting my weekly dose of sunshine (along with my fair share of bumps and scrapes...and apparently I got a bit too friendly with a prickly pear).

This morning I had planned on working from home (hooray for telecommuting) but that was quickly quashed by technical difficulties. I spent the first hour of my morning allowing the "Technical Assistance Center" break my machine further, only to have it returned to its semi-functioning self at the end of the call. Apparently if I decide to end the call, they consider the ticket closed, even if the problem is not resolved. How's that for customer service? *grumble* so after I get done with my phone meeting, I get to get back with the Tech folk to see if they can fix the problem.

Love it.

Recovery Weekend

Had a fantastic weekend just recovering - spent some time with Amy - and got a mixed assortment of stitchmarkers from her (all available at Amyville!) but sadly, I was too much the lazy (and hungry) individual to stage the photo shoots...lets just say it would have involved the stitch markers being displayed next to real size versions of the various foods...

Other than field trips to the north for food and yarn, we also popped into an amazing paper studio - I've always been fascinated with making paper - and they have a whole workspace and classes!! yeek! As if I need another craft! Lol.

The remainder of the weekend was spent either spinning (I nearly have my first spindleful of singles!) or curled up on the couch reading. I was a very much needed very relaxing weekend.

How odd.

Your Linguistic Profile:

70% General American English

15% Yankee

10% Dixie

5% Upper Midwestern

0% Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

it would seem, that even though I grew up in the midwest, and never ever spent any time in the south, I somehow speak 0% midwestern american and 10% dixie. The Yank comes from my time in College, I'm sure.

Shop's Open

Well, I've gone and opened an Etsy Shop - for now it only has marble magnets for sale, but once I get my spinning in hand, I hope to have handspun yarns to offer. Sadly, my sewing is always the hardest for me to work on, so fabric-goods like totes and softies may be long in making an appearance.

Sampler!

Well, I subscribed to the Sampler last month, and I received my August Sampler package while I was at the OR show. Lots of goodies to be had, but I especially enjoyed the following:

• A pearl choker made of pearls in clusters of three strung on what I think is Hemp string from MaizeHutton.com - I will probably have to lengthen it, as it is a true choker and I'm not accustomed to wearing them.
• Delicious Soap from Naikid Inc
• Tasty Summer Vacation Lip Balm (it's Vegan!) from Heather Joy
• Lovely Gift Tags from Annette Payne Designs
• Handspun Yarns from Midnight Sky Fibers
• A cute packet of fabric, button, needle and thread from Uplifting Arts
• Adorable Stationary from DeMarco Designs
• A sweet little Bee Charm from Amy Peters Studio
• and on my to check out list: Feed Your Head Books

Sorry, no photos, but you can certainly browse those Indie Artists and see their goodies for yourself :D

Exhausted.

Well, I'm back :) Spent the last week ogling and petting gear at the Outdoor Industry Summer Retailer Show up in Salt Lake City, Utah. Needless to say, I'm exhausted, and the gear is loooovely! Nearly no knitting was accomplished during this time, but my August Sampler arrived :) More tomorrow!

Spinning Bag!

Remember that floppy purse I made? Well, while it is a little floppy for regular use, I have discovered an excellent use for it! I use it to hold my predrafted roving while I'm spindling! I'm terribly uncoordinated and can't for the life of me figure out how to wrap roving happily around my wrist and feed it off for drafting....so this turned out to be the perfect solution. Stuff roving in bag, sling bag on wrist, and draft away :) Sorry, no photos of spindling in progress - it's going reasonably well, if a little bit slowly - the spindle is nearly full, so I suspect I'll be trying my hand at plying soon! hooray!

Nearly Frogged

I nearly frogged this project to turn it into something else...it had been on needles for what seems like quite some time - turns out it's not been too long - I originally had to rip it back out and redo math back in June - anyhow, I realized how close I was to being done, and I decided to finish it off. What is it? It's a Ribbon X-Back! Click on for photos and more details.

Connect?

Hey - does anyone out there use Connect? If so, and you want a code for 5 song downloads, please let me know. I don't use it, nor do I tend to download music. So...first come first served. :D And while this may seem like a blatant plea for comments, it's not. ;) not really anyway :D

A new Fiberly Pursuit!

Fantastic time was had the last few days hanging with other fellow crafters...

First was a farewell to Alison as she is moving from the Southwest to the Southeast...and while my time was limited, it was certainly good to be able to put some faces to blogs as a goodly portion of the ladies present were from the local SnB.

And yesterday I met up with Chris for a delicious Indian food dinner, lively and thought provoking conversation....and Crochet!

That's right - after all, you must have seen it coming, what with the small herd of Japanese Crochet Books that have landed in my library. And can you guess what I've cast my hook out on? Why it's a kitty...in the style of Matcha. Crochet is great - and there's only the one loop to worry about :) Perfect for portable projects :D Sorry, no photos yet, as I've just got a bit of a circle goin' on!

Shopping

Thanks to the pointers to CafePress and Etsy :)

I'm also going to check out Zazzle too.

I haven't been very happy with the available apparel products on CafePress - and I've not yet had a chance to look very closely at Zazzle yet. My main problem is ideally i'd like high quality organic cotton or hemp shirts - but the only way that is going to happen is if I print the darn things myself. As for the cards, cups, mousepads and such, I still haven't decided which way to go. Anyone have anything to say about either Zazzle or CafePress's print on demand for those types of items? Good quality? Crisp images?

Fridge Jewelry

lookie lookie what I made! I do indeed to other crafts other than knitting!

So...as I mentioned before, knitting seems to take most of my time, but I do feel the need to branch out now and again. I've been trying to come up with ideas for custom things out of photographs me and my husband have taken - mostly for gifting something personal, but then the mercenary side of me does pop out - in order to offset some of our other hobby costs, we want to sell some of our custom images in the forms of cards, shirts, calendars...that sort of thing. But since we're still hunting for a reputable vendor and trying to decide how to move on those things, I decided to stick my toe in the water with these.

So yes, you heard right. I'm thinking about becoming commercial. Gotta pay for that yarn somehow, right? And since my spinning is somewhat slow...I'm startin' easy with these instead. If you're interested - do let me know. I'm thinking of starting the big ones at $3.00 ea and the little ones at $2.50 ea. Leave me a comment if you're interested...

Perfect Timing!

I've just finished reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix...and also received notice that Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is awaiting me at the local Library! Hooray!

Library Expansion

Somehow, every time I have a spare moment when I am traveling for work, I manage to drift into a Japanese Bookstore in search of books. I already have a dreadful issue with regards to collecting books (mostly cookbooks in my case) but then I stumbled into the world of Japanese Craft books. The new additions?

Food Wrappin' - ISBN: 4388058114

This book is loaded with beautiful photos - of food and how to creatively wrap it! What better than lovely food and lovely wrapping combined? :D

Next up, we have:

Amigurumi Collection Volume 2 - ISBN: 4388058114

This books completes my series of three :D. How shameful. I don't even know how to crochet yet. I better get started...especially since the last book to join the library (this time) is another crochet book!

Look!

Title Unknown - it's the Cat book that inspired Matcha!ISBN: 4391130122

I love that book. Not only is it a pattern book, but it shows all colors of cats up to all kinds of mischief!

Eggs - not just for breakfast!

Last Month's IMBB was hosted by Seattle Bon Vivant and it was all about Eggs! IMBB has continued to grow amazingly - and the Egg issue had 81 entries rolled up in two summary posts! If ever you needed inspiration for different ways to prepare eggs of all sorts, go have a look see :D

And in case that isn't enough, there's also the EoMEoTE - #8's summary was just posted!

Leafy Lacework

Continuing with my fascination with knitted lace, I decided to knit Knitty's Branching Out as a hostess gift for a friend who's putting up with me and a mess of other crew in a month or so while we run amok at a local (to her) trade show - and no, it's not a fiber related trade show...it's an outdoor gear trade show. Anyone who knows me knows I'm a little bit of a gear head when it comes to outdoor gear and equipment - but then it seems I'm the same way when it comes to my fiberly pursuits.

Anyhow, I've got enough yarn to do another...or I might use the yarn to do this dayflower scarf...Details (and another photo) on my Branching Out can be found here.

Socklets or full Socks?

I've got some Sock weight Karaoke I'm evaluating - I've cast on for a pair of socks (whoo hoo - two socks on two circs!)...no photos, because there isn't much to look at yet - I've cast on using the Pom Squad Toe-up anklet pattern...but I'm not certain what I think about wool-silk anklet socks - I guess I can just keep right on knitting the leg of the socks if I don't want anklets - these will be my first socks, so I'm not sure how sound that logic is.

Then again, if I knit just the anklets, I might have just enough yarn for two pair....maybe.

What do you guys think?

Am I the Only One...

...who was not sucked in this weekend by Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince?

I was sorely tempted to go and get my hands on a copy - but I held back - I checked my local library queue and I'm currently #13 on the list...In order to bide my time, I've also gone and put Order of the Phoenix also on hold so I can refresh my dreadful memory as to just what happened in book 5. How dreadful that I can't remember...I spent a good portion of one evening this past weekend trying to recall what all happened in book 5 and was embarrassingly unsuccessful....I could easily recall books one through four, but not five. Oh well, timing should work out perfectly - I think I'll be able to pick up Order of the Phoenix, read it through and Half Blood Prince should be ready for pickup just as I finish :D Hooray!

Speaking of Tea...

Looks like July's IMBB is all about Tea. Go visit a la Cuisine for details!

But back to that Matcha thing. I've a whole mess of wool yarn that needs to be dyed...and a small herd of KoolAid packets with which to enhance them...but the idea of having Matcha hued yarn intrigues me. Does anyone know if 1) Matcha can successfully be used to dye wool yarn 2) if so, what ratio is used - matcha powder to ounces of wool to get a saturated color and 3) is it prohibitively expensive (since matcha powder demands a much higher price than KoolAid!)

Matcha Madness!

Just what is this Matcha anyway? Well, Matcha is the name of a rather adorable crochet cat - and while he has his own following, I'm referring to a specific type of Green Tea. The literal translations I've found for "Matcha" include "liquid Jade" and "rubbed tea." It is a brilliant green tea powder that is typically used in the Japanese Tea Ceremony, Chanoyu. Interestingly enough, it is also used to dye foods such as soba noodles and mochi green, and is used in the making of Green Tea Ice Cream. Matcha is made from gyokuro, a green tea that is shaded during the weeks prior to harvest to ensure their deep green color. Post harvest, the leaves are steamed to prevent fermentation, and are processed to remove their veins - at this point they are laid flat to dry - and are now known as "tencha." The tencha is then ground into a fine powder and is then known as Matcha. There are two types of matcha - koicha and usucha, with koicha having a milder and sweeter flavor than usucha.

Anyhow, Matcha green tea is all the rage these days. Starbucks now offers a Matcha Creme Frappuccino as well as a Matcha shaken iced tea. I've not yet had the opportunity to try either....what I have tried is one of the new Matcha additions to the Jamba Juice lineup...while they offer several Matcha blended smoothies, I opted for a Matcha Shot - paired with soymilk. Interestingly enough, it tastes like Lucky Charms. I kid you not - and it had me perky all morning long :)

Keen What?!

Quinoa! It might look like birdseed, but it isn't. Well...if it is, people eat it too...and they have been for thousands of years.

Just what can you do with Quinoa? Well, it can be used to substitute rice in many dishes, it can be turned into salad similarly to taboule, and it can be ground into flour! In my case, I turned it into a tasty salad...read more here.

Meme me up, Scotty!

Imagine my surprise, when another Stephanie tagged me for Delicious Days' cook next door meme! I find it pleasantly surprising that people stumble into my blogs - especially my companion blogs since they see so few updates! In any case, if you'd like to see my answers, please go visit my woefully neglected food blog. Perhaps I should update it with my recent and somewhat embarrassing craving...guess what's for dinner...Spam & Pineapple Fried Rice. That's right. Spam. How frightening is that? I even went to the trouble of making rice last night so it would be of the proper consistency for frying...

a little Greenery

Lookie lookie, a soft and lovely green scarf with a climbing vine or trellis work motif...

Incidentally, it is another test knit for SouthWest Trading Co, based on the motif on one of their Karaoke Pullovers.

Though not intricate in the way of elaborate lacework, this scarf would be a great way to learn to read your stitches, in my opinion - it looks a lot more complex than it actually is, and it's very easy to spot mistakes (like a misplaced yarnover).

I'm still trying to decide if I think the scarf will suit men & women equally well...I'm trying to decide if I will cast on for a pair (or three!) of these on a set of needles for holiday knitting...

Bigger photo and a bit more information is available here.

Good as New!

After playing with my crayons and wearing them down while preparing my orange and green paper to wrap that bunny into a carrot I found myself lamenting the poor flattened tips. New-fangled colors or not, all crayons deserve to look perfect and newly cast. Those dreadful sharpeners that come in the box of 96 (or at least in my box anyway) just don't do the job right - oversharpening the tips to a sharp point that no self-respecting crayon wants. To the rescue? our friends at X-acto - not only do they make nice sharp knives for crafting, but they also make a crayon sharpener that re-tips your crayons good as new! Available in both hand held and battery operated! I don't have one yet, but I suspect I might just have to get one to re-perk those crayons of mine.

I can't read

em, but I can still appreciate them! Behold! My first ever Japanese Craft Books!

Fullhearted Wrapping - ISBN: 453720088X
Amigurumi Crochet Collection Volume 3 - ISBN: 4309267610

And for the record, I do not read Japanese, nor do I crochet. I do plan on starting though - after all, I can't very well have a crochet craft book and *not* learn how to crochet!

In order to learn, I expanded my library by adding the following to my collection:

Crocheting School and Reader's Digest Complete Guide to Needlework. Both have lots and lots of photos and seem clear and easy to use - though I have not actually done any crocheting with the exception of some slip stitch joining on a Triceratops.

My enabler? Amy of course :D

Incidentally, I have another craft book acquired via a swap with Amy - that complements my Amigurumi Vol 3 book - it's the original Amigurumi Collection! ISBN 4309265723 - there is an adorable kitten (I don't see her on this cover shot) I intend to make :) once I decode the pattern that is...

Get yer Party Clothes On!

Once again, I find myself lacking small human models, so I have to resort to dressing my stuffed animals. Behold, my Butter Cream Vermont Teddy Bear, all dressed and ready to party in an Anouk destined for a friend. If I could just size it down, it would make an adorable frock for Skimima. For the details, and a shot of just the pinafore, go here.