A small glimpse...

...into what my home looks like when I've been doing shop-work:


cat included for scale :) (and yes, that is some new fiber that will go up next month :) )

Typically, I don't have drying racks occupying what little free space I normally have in my kitchen - however, I had to bring the fully loaded racks inside due to an impending dust storm (we can't have all that freshly dyed yarn getting all dirty and dusty!)

No news (or little news) to be reported on the knitting and/or spinning front - I'm ever-so-slowly filling my second bobbin so I can knit the Wing o the Moth, and I'm making slow, steady progress on some stealth knitting. Avast, has alas, been set aside due to my aversion of "finishing" pieces - yet when I sit and think about it, there really isn't *that* much left to be done - I need to turn in all the bands/hems and have someone install the zipper for me! And voila! It would be done!

Death(ly) Hallow(s)

In a blaze of page turning, I finished off Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows this past weekend - I'm now finishing off the book on CD version :) For those who have finished who are wanting more info about what happens to all the characters, you can find a transcript of a chat with J.K. Rowling on Mugglenet.

Not too long before the release of Deathly Hallows, I finally had a chance to go on a vacation :) - the destination was just outside the town of Escalante, Utah - a hike...


...down Death Hollow. How fitting :) Photos featured here are taken after the perennial water source is reached - depending on local weather, and your own personal hiking speed, getting to the perennial water can prove to be a brutally long day. Once there though, the nature of the canyon changes dramatically - and is simply stunning.

On occasion, the pools are actually deep enough to require a swim to get across - in case you're wondering, that is indeed a child's pool toy - it was brought on the trip to aid in keeping our packs dry :)

We flew through in just three days - it is certainly possible to stretch it out longer, though for those interested in exploring the area, it should be noted that nice campsites can be hard to come by - especially in the lower reaches where poison ivy abounds. Luckily, we had heard about the poison ivy and took care to avoid it! Optimal time of year for this hike is perhaps earlier in the spring or later in the fall.

A Sneak Treat!

Lucky Me! I was lucky enough to have received an advance copy of Romantic Hand Knits: 26 Flirtatious Designs That Flatter Your Figure by Annie Modesitt. (officially released for sale tomorow, August 7th)

If you want a sneak peak inside the book, check out Annie's Flickr set. The book itself is stunning to look at - the photos lush, the knitting just gorgeous. Since I received the book, I haven't had a moment to do much else other than to page through and ogle the photos. Various of the projects in the book, will, I'm sure eventually make it onto my needles - and others will provide inspiration for yet other projects. The patterns are broken down into 3 sections: Above the Waist - various tops from tanks/camisoles to sweaters and cardigans, Below the Waist - Skirts and Dresses, and Accessories - which include hats, gloves, scarves and stockings. It's fair to say I found patterns in each of the sections that caught my interest.

In addition to lovely photos and patterns, the book also has plenty of helpful information regarding techniques that may be considered more advanced or non-standard to the average knitter such as embroidery, crochet and basic lace knitting techniques. Also included is a recommended reading section in the back to help augment my knitting library :) I'm looking forward to spending a bit more time with this book as I work my way through my knitting project queue :)

During Lunchtime...

...the shop was updated!


In addition to 10 new limited edition colorways, a bunch of colors that were out of stock have been restocked, 3 new colors have been introduced, and a couple colorways have been expanded into Sport/DK weight. Cruise over to Spritely Goods to check it all out.

2/3rds there....

Well, I've slept on it...no $30+ shawl for me, no siree! Instead I had some quality time with my spinning - churned off 4.5 ounces / 608 yards of fine fingering/baby weight yarn...and it's been mumbling about being turned into a Wing o the Moth shawl - I need 300-400 more yards, so it's back to the spinning wheel I go - this time, I'll be spinning off a batt, rather than a bowl of hand blended (no tools used) fibers. If you look really carefully, you might see the sparkle in the yarn - I added sparkly angelina fibers to the yarn as I was spinning it. I'm really eager to get started, but I've decided to use this yarn for the outer portions of the shawl as I suspect it is more variegated in appearance than what I'll be spinning from the batt. I better get to it, if I want to get this thing cast on anytime soon!

OPK, pehaps something to queue?

Bladmönstrad sjal
Originally uploaded by Queen Mudd

This gorgeous shawl, knit by Queen Mudd has had me intrigued since I set eyes on it. It's just stunning. It's designed by a swedish designer, and the pattern can be purchased (not downloadable) either from the designer directly or from Helylle an online yarnshop in Sweden...the hangup? I hate to admit it, but it's the price. approximately $33. Just for the pattern. I may very well cave, but I'm definitely sleeping on it - my knitting queue is somewhat ridiculous and while I adore knitting lace, I still rarely wear it!

A few loose ends

Just in time for the summer monsoon ;)

I've finally finished all of the knitting on Avast - it's all finishing tasks I have left to do - basically I need to sew down the hems for the sleeve, and turn in the bands and sew those down. Once that is done, I'll need to wash and block the sweater so I can take a measurement for the zipper - then go zipper hunting and decide if I dare install it myself or if I'll hire out for that (again).

Preliminary fittings indicate that it will fit perfectly :)

I'm Listening...

...indeed. It was a race of library holds to see which would come available first - I certainly didn't expect it to be the Book on CD! I'm still holding relatively steady at position 9 for the actual book - which, by the way, I still plan on reading cover to cover.

Anyhow, I'm trying to give myself a chance of having both the books and listening experience at the same time by limiting my listening to working out - never have I felt so disappointed when the timer ran out on my treadmill run and no other machine was available to prolong the listening experience! How's that for new motivation for working out? :D

As for the running, I'm officially on W7D2 of the C25k program, still following a low heart training plan. I tried upping the speed by 0.1 mph today as I've been easily staying within my target heart rate zone on the last several runs. Amazing what a measly tenth of a mile per hour will do to one's heart rate fluctuation!

Death by Dustbunny

After 10 long years of faithful service, the old Hoover started making a lot more noise and was developing a definite shimmy. My DH did all he could to try to revive it, however this time, it seems the dust bunnies had pulled one over on the old machine and there appeared to be no coaxing it back into trouble free performance.

One would think purchasing a new vacuum would be relatively straight forward, though it turned not to be. Obviously, since the last one lasted 10 years, I'd like to see at least that same kind of performance from the new one. Add allergies and a pair of cats to the mix, and the job becomes a bit more complex. Vacuums, it seems, run anywhere from less than $100 to well over $400. I had learned via researching dust control measures for my carder that baghouses (bagged vacuum systems) work more efficiently than cyclone systems - further research on the matter confirmed that for ease of use and efficiency, I should stick with bagged systems. With this small bit of knowledge in hand, it was just a question of researching available models.

Turns out I've abandoned Hoover - so much for brand loyalty. The shop that I had planned on purchasing the vacuum from did not carry any bagged hoovers - the only option was this rather boldly colored vacuum, made by Eureka. I had recalled that a Eureka had done quite well in the recent Consumer Reports reviews - but I wasn't certain that it was this one - it turns out after some additional research, this one did indeed do quite well with Consumer Reports, being rated a best buy.

Of course, once purchased, it had to be assembled and taken for a "test run" - it's much quieter and appears to be more powerful than the old vacuum (managed to pick up a fair bit of dirt out of the carpet even though old faithful had just been used that morning (prior to being declared terminally ill)). So far so good - I guess only time will tell.

As for Old Faithful Hoover, he's sitting in the front foyer waiting to be ushered out. I'm trying to decide if he's "fixable" or not - after all, the motor still runs, if a bit louder and with more vibration than I would like. I suppose I can either freecycle it or see if anyone else cares to adopt it.

Going into Hiding...

...well, kind of anyway. While everyone else will likely be finished and through with the Deathly Hallows by the end of this weekend, I will be patiently awaiting my turn with one of the local library's 20 copies (I'm number 30-something in the queue) - that is...unless I cave in and wind up picking up a copy at a local bookstore sometime this weekend while running other errands. I fear the only way to keep the book spoiler free is to go into some sort of virtual hibernation....we'll see how much knitting and spinning gets done while I await my turn :)

Have Tube....

...will knit?

I got this cool mailing tube from a (currently) bloggless friend (hi J-Dub!) and it is the perfect size for storing a spindle and a whole whack of fiber - of course, a cardboard mailing tube is not so fun to look at, so I've been thinking of knitting a cover, felting it to size, adding a strap or two and (in theory anyway) voila! A tubular purse or a convenient non-crushable case for a spindle!

Of course, this is just some grand idea that I've been bouncing around in my mind - I've been thinking of doing perhaps some mosaic knitting or fair isle, or perhaps even grabbing some random bits of handspun to knit this bag up - but I'm having difficulty figuring out how to start - I was thinking of knitting a round base (course I haven't quite figured out how to do that other than to perhaps try to copy the start of the kitty pi bed) and then just knitting up the sides until it's taller than I need so it can be felted good and proper...oh the possibilities :D

Messageboards

Petroglyphs and pictographs are interesting things. Whenever I visit sites that have these neat archaeological features, I am always mystified and I wonder sometimes what they are meant to mean. I've seen spiral petroglyphs before - but they are typically never connected to anything else - this glyph reminds me (for some reason) of some line art creature from some childhood book. Of course, I have no idea what creature it is, nor do I recall what book it was from, or if it was perhaps not even from a book, but perhaps a movie - or maybe it was some fanciful figment of my own derivation - memories are funny that way. Regardless, I'm sure that's not what the originator wanted to convey :)

If I'm remembering correctly, this was another one of the glyphs found while hunting for the elusive duck in the desert.

Speaking of spirals, they do make me think of spinning - I've finally broken into my bowl of fiber for my spun stitches project - the spinning is going slowly as I'm trying to spin finer than normal, - the fiber has been mumbling about being turned into a Wing o the Moth shawl - we'll see how it comes out in terms of yardage - I still don't think I'm spinning finely enough to ply it into a lace (heck, I'd settle for a fingering weight) yarn - at this moment I'm entertaining trying to knit the shawl out of singles - but I'm not so sure that's such a fantastic idea - though I can't imagine the lace would bias strangely - especially with a proper blocking....I'll get a photo once the bobbin is more full - there is a piteously small amount of yarn spun thus far.

Sola

Sola, the new SOAK scent by Amy Butler is now in stock at the shop! The scent is quite nice, and is supposed to evoke the fragrance of an evening garden. I'm not typically one for florals - this one is more spicy than sweet, and I'm quite liking it :)

Other things I'm liking - it seems that the continued training has finally resulted in my heartrate settling down properly. I finally completed W6D3 (25 minutes continuous jogging) - still at a very slow speed of 3.5mph, but I'm well within my target heart rate zone. If things continue, I'll go ahead and up the speed a little bit! So far, I've had no signs of the shin splints returning (knock on wood), though I have occasional bouts with numbness in my feet - I'm trying to figure out if my feet are still adjusting to the new orthotic devices, and have also been trying to make sure I don't crank down on the laces when I get ready to run. Hopefully by the end of the summer, I'll have my pace picked up a little, and my mileage moving in the right direction - I have 2 races on the books for this winter season, one of which is an (eep) half marathon!

A Milestone Reached!

One Year ago today, Spritely Goods moved to its own domain. I've learned a ton in the last year, and have had a fantastic time growing the site. I'm looking forward to continuing this adventure, with my eyes set boldly on growing it large enough so I don't have to play at being an engineer for too much more of my career :)

My, what big feet you have!

Certain places in the desert southwest are perfect for hunting out evidence of previous inhabitants and cultures. While hunting for a particular Duck earlier this year, I came across these panels of these Big Footed and Handed guys (and the little deer - I love the little deer!) Can you imagine if you had to actually knit socks or mitts for these folk?

Flamin' Hot!

We're well into the summer and the weatherfolk are figuring that it will not be a surprise to see temps in excess of 120 F at some point this summer. Yeesh. And what do I do? I play with wool, of course! It almost looks like the carder is on fire, doesn't it? Well, don't worry - it isn't :) That's a new colorway called Daffodil - now in the shop, along with some other July updates :D

Speaking of wool, I'm on the front bands of Avast! I've essentially got the front bands and the bottom hem to go, then some tidying up of random dangling yarns and then off to pick out a zipper. A brief (really brief - remember, soaring temps and wool sweaters don't mix ;) ) try-on indicates that the sleeves and body are indeed long enough and it looks like it will be a good fit :D hooray!

All Hers.

Any time a knitted item is placed on the floor, be it for photography, blocking, temporary storage or a time out, my cat is there to claim it as her own :)

As you can see, she was happy to claim this scarf as her own. Incidentally, it's done (and all the gory details are over here as usual) and I'm now contemplating the next project to cast on for while still working on the lace and Avast. I'm thinking it may be time for me to brave the Twisted Flower Socks by Cookie A. The only thing that's kept me from them so far is the fact that they are knit top down...Top down socks always unnerve me - I always worry that I'll run out of yarn before I finish the toes!

I was thinking of knitting them out of this yarn:


But now I'm wondering if this yarn may be more interesting...

but then again, I worry about the color variegation...what say you?

Projects on the Needles

This is what the couch looks like...poor cats, there's no room for them! I guess this would probably be why they typically sit in my lap while I'm knitting...

The blue is my Noro Lotus - as you can see, the simple dropped stitch pattern shows the yarn off very well. It's simple and soothing to work on, and it's going really fast, as dropped stitch scarves typically do :)

The bright orange mass is a lace project :) You might be able to pick out leaves in there...The yarn isn't really quite that bright...it just looks that way in the photo.

The gray is Avast - I'm over halfway done with the yoke - I'm loving this part of the knitting because with each row, the knitting goes faster and faster! Once I get the collar done, I plan to kitchner up the underarm stitches (I left them live) and I'll get a preliminary try-on done. I sure hope it fits...I figure if there is length that needs to be added to the body, I can get away with adding a bit at the bottom since I have to pick up for the bottom hem still...the sleeves though, will be the clincher. I sure hope I wasn't too hasty in joining them up with the body!

Aspirations

My cat, apparently, wishes to be a writer one day. He's not too good at it, but he sure tries. Heck, I'm sure I'd have problems too if I had to hold onto the pen with both hands!

I aspire to not have to be my own tech-support for web issues. A move to a new webhost was averted at the last moment, though plenty of comparison shopping occurred and a new host has been identified should my web hosting shenanigans persist.

I also aspire to be able to happily run my 2 races scheduled later this year. I'm continuing with my indoor training and cross training, and while I am still slightly frustrated at my slow pace, I do believe that things are settling - it certainly seems like my heart rate doesn't fluctuate quite as much as it did when I first started this adventure. Time will tell. I've officially cleared myself into Week 6 of the C25k program, and my feet and legs appear to have adjusted to the new orthotic devices. Hooray!

Take 5...

It seems like somethings are just destined to be difficult, but once they settle, it's smooooooth sailing (kind of like what's going with my host right now. But lets not talk about that...I'd rather talk about my knitting, wouldn't you?)

Anyhow, I had hoped to find a glorious pattern that would be suitable to showing off that fantastic blue yarn....things were proving difficult though, and as I mentioned previously, there was much trial and error knitting going on. The yarn survived numerous rippings beautifully (thank goodness) and has proven to be very soothing for me to work on these last several days as I agonized over the fate of my poor shop. As you may notice, I wound up settling for a simple drop stitch to 1) make the most of the yardage and 2) show of the yarn to its best advantage. It's coming out great. I shoulda known to just keep it simple ;)

Technical Difficulties

Happy Summer Solstice :)

I'm slightly preoccupied right now because my shop is currently exeperiencing technical difficulties. While it is processing orders just fine, it is having various outgoing email pains. I've spent the last 2 days troubleshooting it with my web host and it's still not yet resolved. If any of you know anything about SMTP and email setup and think you can lend a hand, let me know - for some reason it seems that my shop is unable to connect properly to the SMTP host (though no settings have changed recently!) your help is appreciated :)

If for some miracle, you are reading this and you have been trying to subscribe to the newsletter or have been trying to contact me the last few days via the contact form, please email me directly (there is a link in the sidebar) and I will take care of things.

In other frustrations, I continue to crosstrain while limiting myself to my designated heart rate window - I have always had a hard time hiking up hill and now I know why! I was working out on the Step Mill (more torturous than the treadmill, and a much more challenging workout than the stairmaster) - and I wasn't able to go up past level 1! Runningwise, I'm still building a base, and I'm still plodding along at 3.4/3.4 mph. Yep, you read that right - I can walk faster than that, but the idea is to build sport-specific training in the target heart rate window. I'm hanging in there - and am certainly hoping things pay off down the road and I can at least get back into the 4mph speed range at some point before the end of the year!

Feeling Blue.

I had been trying to figure out just what to do with a pair of skeins of Noro Lotus - the yarn itself is quite lovely, though the yardage is quite short - and I didn't want to knit it up into something that would show off the yarn...

With that in mind, I started pouring through both of my newly acquired treasuries in search of a stitch pattern that might work. For better contemplation, I wound the yarn into cakes...

Of course, finding a suitable pattern was a challenge seeing as I had limited yardage to work with, and the gauge of the yarn isn't fine by any stretch of the imagination.

After casting on and ripping out several times (yes, several - so anyone who is wondering if the yarn takes to ripping, the answer is yes, it does so beautifully!), we seem to be getting along and this knit is proving to be a welcome respite from more challenging lace knitting and the sweater...which is looking more and more like a sweater as progress continues on the yoke!

Berry Season!

You know it's summer when all the berries start making an appearance at the market...


One of my favorites are raspberries - growing up, we had a bunch of raspberry brambles growing in our backyard. Between us kids and the birds, the brambles would be picked clean!


I also love cherries - I lament the fact that I don't live in the Pacific Northwest anymore - what with the varieties of cherries up there! I have to settle for Rainiers and Bings down here now....unless I want to mail order them in.


And finally, the wonderful Strawberry - speaking of which, I love my local Trader Joes. They have gorgeous organic Strawberries in stock now for a very reasonable price...especially good seeing as Strawberries are typically listed as among the top fruits to be laden with pesticides.

Incidentally, perfect for Project Spectrum, I also had a bunch of blackberries on hand too - they just wouldn't photograph well....

Stash Enhancement of a different sort

Since I'm trying to take a break from Stash Enhancing as it seems I have more than enough yarn, I decided I needed to reward myself with some books to help me use up said stash. While I have several generic Knitting Books, including Vogue Knitting: The Ultimate Knitting Book, and by way of a recent gift from Erika: The Vogue Knitting Stitchionary Volume Three: Color Knitting, I was still struggling to find inspiration for a particular yarn. The yarn has sat in my stash for some time, and I don't have much in the way of yardage (no, it isn't the Sinful - that, I'm afraid, is still sitting quietly in the stash)...anyhow, as a early celebration Spritely Goods' moving to its own domain (and a belated celebration of its inception), I decided to treat myself to three inspirational books.

I've heard no rebellious and creative knitter should be without a full library of Zimmermann and Walker...so I have enriched my book collection to include:
Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitting Workshop, A Treasury of Knitting Patterns and A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns. I have it on good authority that the red book is the best.

Cultivating Patience

I'm back training, with my eyes on a couple of races that are slated for this winter....in an attempt to do things right, I'm still working on my balance and ankle strength (even though everyone at the gym thinks I'm nuts I'm sure, what with all the one-legged exercises I've been doing) - I'm also trying to work in aerobic cross training on various devices in addition to trying to get myself to train using the Maffetone Low Heart Rate method...I say trying because it seems I am still trying to determine what pace I can run slowly at while still successfully staying within the designated training zone. At first I thought this would be a piece of cake...unfortunately, it seems my love of cake and lack of conditioning is making this much more challenging than originally anticipated :P I've been told that it can take several weeks to settle into a rhythm doing this type of training...and that it can take up to 12 weeks to see progress...

In other news, I've joined the Spun Stitches along...I keep meaning to spin myself a bunch of Arizona Sycamore colored yarn for knitting into a shawl or some other accessory - I have even had the bowl of fiber prepped for quite some time - I just keep getting distracted by other things (apparently I have a short attention span). I haven't decided if I'm going to ply it yet....and if I do, if I will ply it with itself, with sparkly iridescent thread....or both. Stay tuned, hopefully I'll get the wheel turning again soon and will have something to show :)

Everybody loves Cake

A while back, Janet started a new flickr group dedicated to yarn cake portraits... and it's been growing every day! Almost as fun as Ravelry, the various yarn cakes have been a delight to look at. If you have a fascination with yarn cakes, pop on over and request an invite :)

Of course...if photos of yarn make you want to Stash Enhance....then perhaps it may not be the wisest group to join ;) All I can say is don't blame me if you get a hankering to acquire any yarns after having a good look at all the photos...you go over warned ;)

Together, at last!

Finally, after breaking free from the Knitting Black Hole, I have attached the sleeves to the body of the sweater and am cruising along on the yoke!

You may notice some strange quantity of needles in that photo - I am knitting the sweater back and forth on one long Denise needle (because the plastic tips are kinda bendy and cause my hands less distress - though it seems like the yarn sticks on the cable :( making moving stitches around a little bit of a pain). You might spy some plastic DPNs with needle protectors or even some other long circulars.....those are all there to hold onto the few live stitches at the underarm. Yes, I realize I was supposed to bind those off...but this is one of the modifications i have made - I am knitting the entire sweater seamlessly. The arms were knit in the round, the underarm stitches with be grafted together....

As you may note, there is slight striping on this sweater - this is due to the yarn I am knitting with - it has fairly broad stripes; however, since I find the broad stripes objectionable - so I have been knitting from two ends of a ball, or from two separate balls in some cases. I'm still getting a little bit of striping, but I think it looks much happier this way.

Freshened up.

Well, kind of. My blog finally migrated to the New and Improved Blogger a while back...and there were some features I really liked - my archive was getting rather lengthy (apparently, I've been blogging for quite a while!) and I do like having the ability to pull up posts by subject/tag. I decided I'd have a go at trying to "upgrade" the template and streamline/consolidate some items to make them easier to manage and update. I'm trying to decide if I'm going to keep all the old KALs...they are still there for now, and I've tried to check the links to ensure they are all going to functioning pages. The good news, I guess, is they can be deleted in one quick click - the bad news is this blog template is much harder to keep a solid backup of. Or it seems that way anyhow since when I look at the code, I can't figure out where Blogger is keeping the content of the "widgets". I will admit though, that once I figured it out, it wasn't too bad! So...if you're on blogger, and you're trying to decide if the overhaul is worth it, give it a try - I bobbled back and forth several times and the good news is it is a piece of cake to switch back to your old-style customized template :)

Yarn. Everywhere.

Before I get too far into everything...you should know that:


The shop updated over the weekend - most of the regular colorways are all back in stock, plus 10 limited edition colorways that will never be repeated!

One would presume that if I have just updated the shop, that yarn would no longer be all over the house. That would only be logical. However, it seems that as I keep trying to decide on projects, I wind up making small piles of my personal stash in various locations in the house.


Right now, there is a ball of Globe Mallow on the couch, attached to some secret knitting....it is snuggled up next to a couple of balls of Karaoke, which happen to be attached to several pieces of Avast....which is actually seeing some progress after the sleeves miraculously reached escape velocity of the knitting black hole. It seemed for quite some time these last few weeks that no amount of knitting on the sleeves was resulting in any sort of measurable length - though last night, before I put it down, I took a measurement and it looks like I may only have an inch or so to go before joining the sleeves to the body....just in time for the summer ;)

Also lingering around the house are several balls of red SWTC Bamboo - the same yarn I knit my Shetland Triangle Shawl out of - it is trying to decide if it wants to be knit into another Swallowtail...Apparently I'm in the mood for Lace.

I've got several other skeins laying around the house in states of dishabille trying to decide what they want to be - one of them has me actually thinking of trying to design a pair of semi-lacy socks...the base stitch pattern is 6 stitches (I think). I think it should be fairly straight forward - though most socks seem to have 64 stitches in the leg...and 6 does not smoothly go into 64. It does go smoothly into 60 and 66 - though 66 is no good for splitting the pattern for the foot....ah well, I guess I'll start my scribblings and see. Right now I'm feeling the tug between attempting my first sock design and knitting on someone else's design...namely Cookie A's Twisted Flower...arguably, I could do both...though that may not be the smart thing for me to do...

June, already?!

Welcome to the summer :) In true summer fashion, we're welcoming it in with soaring temperatures. Happily for me, summer is a time with wonderful fruit - several of which fall wonderfully into the Project Spectrum Colors this month. Sadly I completely forgot to take a photo of the delicious watermelon that I chopped up earlier - but I'm sure I'll chop another one before this color triad passes!

In other news, I seem to have slumped in the running training - life got in the way (as it is wont to do at times) and I finally got my new orthotic devices. I slipped em in the shoes the other day and went to have a chat with Mr. Dreadmill - and the feet were not so happy. Since the new devices are rigid, and built specifically for running, it seems I need to introduce my feet slowly to them, so there will be no more running until I get my feet well acquainted with the new orthotics. I figure I've been off the program since February due to injury, so I may as well do things right and take it slow - I certainly don't want another injury any time soon. In any case, I suspect I'll be stuck on W5D1 and W5D2 of the C25k program for a little bit while I get back into things. Sadly, the time away has certainly let my fitness slide a bit. MAF max speed on my last "run" was 3.8 or 3.9 mph. *sigh* The goal for now is consistency of training - I'll worry about performance later :) The races on the books for this winter include a 10miler and a half marathon - I've still got plenty of time to rebuild my base!

Blue Baudelaires...and yarn for sale

Look! Finished objects! And only ripped and redone once ;)

Knit from yarn left over from my Swallowtail. Full details, as usual, are available over here at the Finished Objects Blog

While I'm directing you hither and yon, I should also mention I did list the Tropical Sea yarn in the shop, but I apparently forgot to activate it. Oops. It's there now for the taking ;)

There are a total of three skeins available, 2 in a DK weight (linked above) and one in sport weight.

While I'm showing yarn for sale, don't forget to check the Stash Redistribution Blog...there is a bunch of stuff over there.
-SWTC Gianna, Karaoke, Pagoda, Melody,Optimum and Optimum DK and Twize
-Skacel Fuego
-Reynolds Lite Lopi
-Heirloom Aristocrat
-Cascade 220
-Berocco Uxbridge Tweed
-and a bunch of others.

Knit from the Stash.

I love Ravelry! It's still in beta, but they are slowly letting more and more people join - it's a fantastic way to organize and keep track of projects and project notes...and your stash.

Because I'm such a sucker for organizational tools, I took the opportunity to load in my previous projects as well as my stash.

Now, I've been knitting from my stash for quite some time. I know that I have a lot of yarn....I did not realize just how much yarn I have. Needless to say, after cataloguing yarn - only the full balls, mind you - none of the remnants or reclaimed yarns nor any of the cones that I have laying around (yes, cones) nor does it include any of my own handspun - I have approximately 70 different yarns in the stash - some are the same, with different colorways, but not as many as I expected. I haven't been brave enough to try the excel export yet.

Anyhow, there are an awful lot of yarns that could do well in someone else's stash, so I have taken the opportunity to list em up over on the Stash Reduction blog. If you like something just send me a note via the "contact me" link in the sidebar. In the meantime, I'm going to try to figure out what all I should queue up :) I have a big stash to knit thru!

More OPK!

I am always amazed when I spend time with the Luscious Gracious Clan - they all knit, and they all knit together :) It certainly doesn't hurt that they like to knit with my yarn ;) Check their blog for their creative creations - and make sure you check their sidebar for all kinds of additional goodness.

All of the members of the family are prolific knitters, the above is just a small sampling - from a baby hat in Globe Mallow in a unique parallelogram stitch pattern, to a pair of hats from Domiknitrix: Whip Your Knitting into Shape, to a wonderful scarf to a completely original top down sweater...did you know, it only took two skeins of Sylph to knit that lovely sweater?!

Freshly Buttoned...

For the longest time, I have been using this button in my sidebar...while it conveys the idea of yarn, hopefully handpainted, and in my own "favorite" color, though you'd never know it by looking at what's in the shop - which, for some reason, seems to trend to pinks and greens. I don't know what it is, but somehow, every time I set aside time to dye, I wind up with an awful lot more pinks and greens...

Anyhow, I now have a new logo, and a new button to go along with it! She doesn't really lend herself to small buttons, but I am rather pleased with her. So far, she's unnamed, going by Sassy Sprite - she was designed by a friend of mine who loves to draw. I've been looking for a Sprite of sorts to represent the shop for some time, but I'm personally a little lacking in the illustration department. I adore the fact that she is happily clasping a yarn ball!

Anyhow, either button can be used to link to Spritely Goods - all I ask is that you save it to your own server. If you need help or instructions on how to do this, please let me know and I'll do my best to help you out :)

Carb Loading...

Well, not really ;) though the running is coming along (slowly - I'm still relegated to jog/walk intervals while I try to figure out if my shoes are dead, and while I bide my time for my new orthotics to arrive)...

I had a rare non-dye weekend at home, and was thinking of baking some bread...but I wasn't relishing having the oven on for the length of time it takes to bake the bread. Conversations with Raquel the Enabler, got me thinking of possibly doing it on the grill....but since I've not cooked or baked anything on the grill yet, I figured I should try something a little easier...


Pizza! (sorry, we ate the grilled one before I managed to get a photo of it with its lovely grill marks). I love my stand mixer - it made quick work out of making the dough :)

Read on for my comments.

Willows, Pottery and Leather....

Sounds like I'm redecorating, doesn't it?

Actually, willows, pottery and leather are the traditional (and modern) gifts for a ninth anniversary :) I, of course, ignored it all and opted for tech-fabric. And my husband ignored it all in favor of a lovely potted plant (that I certainly hope the cat keeps his little teeth from - he seems to have a thing for tasting the greenery in the house). Apparently there are other surprises in store, but he's not saying what :)

It's an Ice Cream kind of day.

Good thing it's free scoop day at Haagen Dazs ;)
Actually, it's New Flavor Day so your scoop is limited to one of two flavors...but still...it's ice cream :) who could complain about that?!

Celebrating Project Spectrum

Pinks Greens and Yellows - the color triad for Project Spectrum for April and May. If you want to find out more about what each of the items are in the photo above, visit its flickr page.

I've been surprised this month - I honestly did not realize quite how much pink or green I had in the Shop! I had noticed that I seem to be trending towards the greens an awful lot with the dyework, and it's one of the colors I am always fascinated by out here in the desert. While we don't have much of the "bright" greens, there are plenty of greens to be seen, even more so if all the elevation ranges are included. They say in some places of Arizona, just due to the elevation changes, it can be like seeing life zones all the way from Mexico to Canada!

I'm really enjoying Project Spectrum because it's really opened my attention to colors all around me!

I must be getting old...

because I am wishing I could visit this shop.

Seriously, I've been anxiously waiting for my vacuum cleaner to kick it so I can get a new one :) I keep thinking between the dust bunnies, fur balls and wool bits, it surely should have decided to go to the big vacuum repair shop in the sky....but nooo....

Another thing I covet is the Nature Mill - though what I'd do with all that compost is beyond me. I got interested in it after doing a whole mess of googling on indoor composting as I can't have an outdoor compost heap - the idea of messing around with worms was wigging me out, so I was pretty excited when I stumbled across the Nature Mill - though I will admit, worms would be much more economical....

OPK

What on earth is OPK? OPK is other people's knitting :)
Spring must be in the air as two projects have been photographed and emailed to me - both, serendipitously, in the Spring is Here colorway!

The first, is a pair of socks in Fey, knit by Naomi - the pattern is Tropicana from Magknits. I love how the colors came together :) nice and ripply - just gorgeous.


The second lovely Spring is Here goodness is a scarf - knit from two skeins of the Sprite DK/Sport weight yarn. This wonderful scarf was knit by Lalana - she has angora bunnies...so anyone who has a need for angora wool, go pay her a visit - I hear she's harvesting bunny fluff for selling - very few guardhairs she tells me :) I'm still working through a rather large purchase of angora fluff otherwise I'd be all over it!


Both photos are featured in the Shop Gallery - and of course, if you have finished objects knit with Spritely Goods please feel free to point me in the right direction! I'd love to see it :)

As the heel turns...

In addition to moving forward with the all clear to run (or wog in my case) on the treadmill, eventually to move to pavement and outdoor running (though that's not likely any time soon just because the summer appears to have made an appearance)... the tendinitis is also diminishing!

I picked up the knitting, and after reacquainting myself with my location in the chart, I happily turned the heels on these socks :D

Incidentally, I've also been knitting on some sleeves (though I apparently have a long way to go yet!) but they don't look very exciting, what with them being miles and miles of stockinette ;)

a Duck in the Desert?

While I have indeed seen mallards and herons and other waterfowl (even a misplaced pelican!), I had thought this was more of a recent thing with the "developed" waterways out here.

Apparently, there were indeed ducks, or something that looked an awful lot like a duck out here a long time ago, as there is a petroglyph of one out here.

I will admit, this is the only duck petroglyph I've ever seen. It is certainly unique and different. Incidentally, out of all the other petroglyphs in the area, this was the only duck or bird that I saw.

More interestingly, the duck wasn't on its own - it's actually a part of a panel of petroglyphs that feature a human-like figure, along with at least a pair of deer. I say at least a pair because there seems to be a faint deer in the background that I really didn't notice when I took the original photo. I admit it was difficult to really see the panel very well as the sun shining strongly on it, making it so I nearly missed it completely!

Baa Baa Black Sheep...Have You any Wool?

Yes ma'am, yes ma'am way more than three bags full!

In addition to getting in a whole slew of new products last month, from wonderful bamboo tools for knitting and crochet as well as for your kitchen to wonderfully soft merino wool yarns from Malabrigo to an adorable postcard that features a little lamb on yarny hills - it's perfect to use to send greetings or thanks to another yarn lover - mail it as a postcard, or pop it in an A5-sized envelope!

Of course, in addition to hunting down new product, I wouldn't have been doing my job if I wasn't keeping up with the dyework ;) I've been getting a workout moving the dyepot around, and the house has been filled with the smell of wet vinegary sheep. The dust-bunnies and fur-balls from the cats blowing their coats have been joined by bits of wool (my poor vacuum cleaner has been earning its keep!)...and the shop has been updated.

In case you're wondering, this last update was the biggest one yet...with over twenty-two pounds of fiber being dyed. Any guesses as to how many trader joes bags that is? Well, I already gave away the fact that it's quite a bit more than three...I will admit that the bins I currently have for storing skeined yarn and prepared fibers are not sufficient to contain it all. The bins are full to overflowing, and I've had to do up some make-shift containers to hold it all in an organized manner...now of I could only figure out how to use all this yarn to add to the insulation of my house ;)

By the way, the people who have subscribed to the newsletter generally get a few hours head start on the browsing - so take some time to sign up for the newsletter if you're interested. All email addresses are kept confidential, and updates are sent about once a month.


So...Any guesses?





Well, if you guessed seven, then you're way better at estimating that I was :) And yes, there is one whole bag of newly dyed spinning fibers in addition to all that yarn!

Cruise over to the shop to check it all out!