Friday's Are For Crochet

I have gotten a lot of work done on the Neat Ripple Blanket!  I only have two more colors after the green!  If I'm doing the math right, I think that means about a dozen rows and the blanket will be done. December starts tomorrow and I'm going to get this thing finished in plenty of time for Christmas.  Yes, I'm excited that I shouldn't have to pull an all nighter on this.  I've been kicking myself a bit for taking the summer off of working on this blanket, but it's looking like it's all going work out after all.

I've also gotten a pretty big dent in the non bloggable Christmas projects, so blogging on a regular basis should resume shortly.  I do want to finish up my Retreating Cardigan before the end of the year since I'm going to knit cardis next year for stash knitting.  I also need to do the actual stash diving and see what I've got so I can match yarn to patterns for next years Knit Something project.  That's always fun, but it also makes a mess as I toss the stash to pull out sweater quantities.  Of course, tomorrow is the first of December so I get to start my December Knit Something of the Month project.  It's the last one for 2012!

I hope you all have a great weekend!

Blogging

Blogging may be sporadic for the next little bit as I decorate the house for Christmas (I'll get pictures when it's all done) and work on Christmas gifts that are mostly unbloggable.  The bloggable (Neat Ripple Afghan) will be shown on Fridays.  Please bear with us, and in the meantime, Logan sends this out into the Internets for your viewing pleasure:

I have no idea what this means.  Carry on.

I'm Back

 

I decided to take a little blog vacation last week, but I'm back now.  We didn't go anywhere, but I had Caleb home all week and Mickael home for part of the week.  It ended up being a really nice week with just the right amount of busy combined with just the right amount of lazy.  No one was ready for this morning when it came around.  One of the things I did last week (that I actually got pictures of) was make cranberry sauce.  I used three pounds of cranberries, so I had enough sauce for Thanksgiving and Christmas this year as well as having enough to can up and process for future cranberry necessary holidays, AND I have some for gifts!

If you've never had homemade cranberry sauce, you're missing out.  It's so much better than the canned stuff and it's fun to make.  When you cook the cranberries, they actually pop!  I'm amused by popping food, don't judge.  When the sauce is all done, it's the color of good rubies.  I love that color.  This is the time of year that I wander around putting cranberry sauce on everything that sits still.  I tell myself it's not that bad because everyone knows cranberries are loaded with Vitamin C, so really I'm just preventing all of the nasty viruses that are trying to get me at this time of year, right? 

Fridays Are For Crochet

 

The Neat Ripple blanket is moving along pretty well.  I'm almost 75% done, so I feel like getting it done for Christmas shouldn't be a problem.  I photographed my little balls of leftover yarn.  This is what's left of each skein after working each color for two repeats.  I guess it's a good thing I didn't make  my starting chain any longer!  Have a great weekend!

More Spinning

 

Since I got some spinning on the Majacraft Rose (Arwen) done over the weekend, I decided to start a second spinning project on my Kromski Symphony (Giselle).  I can't remember the last time I spun on Giselle, but with some oiling and adjusting a little bit (the singles won't wind on if the brake band isn't on the bobbin - oops!) she was soon spinning quietly away!  I pulled out some fiber I got from Blue Moon Fiber Arts - this is BFL and Tussah silk in the Rook-y colorway, which is my favorite of the Raven Clan.  I have 8 ounces total of this and I'm spinning the singles at 40 wraps per inch, planning to finish it as a 3 ply.

I always forget the depth of my love for BFL when I'm not spinning it.  I know I love it, I know it's great to spin and practically spins itself, but I forget how much I love it.  The silk in this blend doesn't change the way it spins, it just adds some shine.  I can't remember the exact percentages of the blend and I left the information upstairs, so I'll have to tell you later.

Max also likes Giselle, and while Arwen was a source of curiousity, Giselle got even more investigation.  He was just fascinated and even tried to slap at the flyer a bit - fortunately it was going slowly because I could tell he was going to do something to it, and after a couple of attempts, he stopped trying to touch it.  He spent some time in my lap while I spun on Giselle, and he also got dumped on the floor when he attacked the singles.  He's smart though so he'll figure out quickly that he has to behave if he's going to sit in my lap while I spin.

November Knit Something of the Month

 

I finished up my November Knit Something of the Month Mitts over the weekend also!  These are the Zombie Vixen Mitts (free pattern), done in Sanguine Gryphon's Skinny Bugga in Longhorned Beetle.  I knit them on size US 0's (2mm) to get 9 stitches per inch so they'd fit my hands.  Baggy mitts don't work well when you try to use your hands.  The only other change I made was to twist the stitches in the "sutures" in the cables (the little X's that join the two wiggly lines) to make them show up a little more against the background.  Otherwise, I think they're pretty much knit to the pattern.  Fun design and a fast knit!

I've just got December to go and then I've finished up 2012's Knit Something of the Month.  (August got skipped because I was working on Camp Loopy and Ravellenic Games projects that month.  I decided that was enough for that month.)  I am planning on doing sweaters next year, but I'll do one sweater every two months, instead of a sweater a month.  I haven't started pulling out stash yet to see how many sweater quantities I have, but I'll be doing that soon.  Honestly, I could probably do this for a couple of years without any new purchases.  I'm going to really try to do some stash busting with this!

Spinning!

 

I've been itching to get back to my spinning for a while now, but I've been staying away because I've had so many other things going on around here.  When I've got too many projects going at once it stresses me out (kind of counterproductive since the purpose of the fibery things is to relax).  Also, there is Max to consider.  The first time I spun around him he went a little crazy (in the way that Jaws is a little fish).  It wasn't pretty, and it wasn't possible to spin.  Now that he's a year old (almost a year and a half now - so mature), it was time to try again.  I also waited until the end of the day so he would be tired (Max plays during the day and sleeps all night).  The spinning wheel and I fell right back into our rhythm and the wool twisted into singles as I treadled along.  Max was interested but chose to spend most of the time watching from beneath my spinning stool.  A couple of times he jumped into my lap (sitting on a treadling lap can't be the best place to sit), I tucked the fiber under my elbow, and he mostly did pretty well, although the singles running from my hands to the orifice was a little too tempting a couple of times.  Then I got to untangle the single from teeth and claws and dump the kitty on the floor.  He never broke the singles and I was able to get a decent amount of spinning done.

This is roving from Three Bags Full in the Forget Me Not colorway.  It's mostly wool, but there's silk and some other things in there that give it some texture.  I have a total of 12 ounces and I'm spinning 2 ounces onto each bobbin.  I will finish it as a 3 ply, and I'm shooting for a fingering or sport weight in the finished yarn.  I can't remember when I started this, but I've finished the first bobbin and I'm about half way through the second now.  Oh, and they do match, they just look like they're two different blues because of the way the flash is hitting them.  Now that Max has more self control and I can actually spin around him without fear for my spinning wheel's life, I hope to get more spinning done!

Friday is for Crochet

 

I'm back, with a little more blanket!  It feels really good to finish with each color and wind the tiny bit left into a little ball.  I'll have to show you how much I have left of each color - just enough to not freak out on the last row, but not enough to make me wish I'd made the blanket wider.  It worked out just right - kinda like Goldilocks, if she crocheted!

Max had a good checkup yesterday and he weighs 9.5 pounds.  This makes him the smallest full size cat I've ever had.  I know there are smaller cats out there, but Max is the tiniest one to call me Mom.  They obviously didn't weigh his personality!

I hope you all have a great weekend!  I hope to have all sorts of fun, different things to show you next week - hint: I've been spinning!

Drive by Blogging

Just a quick post today and it's really more of an update.  The past two mornings Logan has drastically cut down on the drooling on the morning car ride!  He's still drooling a bit, but his neck fluff and his paws have been dry!  I think we really are getting somewhere with him and he's figuring out that he's going to survive a car ride.  Hoping we can continue moving in a positive direction and have a dog that likes riding in the car someday.  I'm really proud of him.

No blog tomorrow, Max is going to the vet for his yearly exam.  I'm sure it will be fun for everyone!  (Sometimes you have to keep a sense of humor to keep from crying, right?)  Poor Max isn't a fan of riding in the car OR going to the vet.

Knit Something of the Month

New month, new project!  This is my November Knit Something of the Month project.  I started them on November 1, but I'm just now getting a chance to blog them.  The pattern is Zombie Vixens and the yarn is Sanguine Gryphon* Skinny Bugga in Longhorned Beetle.  I'm making them as the pattern is written, but I'm using a size 0 needle (2 mm) to get them small enough for the size of my hands.  As you can see (sort of, they aren't blocked and they're really trying to curl around themselves and hide), I've finished one mitt and I'm almost halfway through the second.  I always do thumbs last and together, right at the end.  This is a nice pattern with an interesting cable and of course these will work with my red cardigans I've been knitting.  Also, in the case of a real zombie invasion, it won't show blood splatter when I get busy with the cricket bat.  (Bonus points for knowing the cricket bat reference.  Note to self, buy cricket bat, maybe Amazon has them - Bingo!)

*Sanguine Gryphon no longer exists because it split into two different businesses:  Verdant Gryphon and Cephalopod Yarns.  I'm not sure if this colorway is still available.

A Bit More Finished Christmas Knitting

I finished up the black hat!  Its the Bend Hat pattern, knit in Dream in Color Special Edition Cashmere Blend Worsted in Black Pearl.  I knit it exactly as the pattern was written and I'm very happy with the finished hat.  I've washed the hat with Synthrapol to get rid of the excess dye (my hands were turning black when I was knitting), and it got even softer after washing.  Its now in the gift pile, waiting for Christmas!

Fridays are for Crochet

 

I'm working along on the Neat Ripple Blanket.  I try to do a little every day, but I don't always make it. I've completed four colors so far (I've used them twice and just have a tiny bit of the ball left), and let me tell you, winding up the little bit of leftovers feels good - like I'm actually getting somewhere on this blanket!  It's going to be big when it's finished, but it will be snuggly soft too.

I thought you'd also like to see what happens around here during the day.  All day, everyday.  Max plays soccer.  He carries the ball like a tiny retriever, he bats it around by himself, and he brings it to me so I can throw it for him.  He tried to bring it to Logan a few times but Logan doesn't give it back.  Max loves to fetch and he's decided that the best time to play fetch with me is when I'm at the kitchen table.  Blogging and eating can wait - that's when the kitten wants to fetch!  I hope you all have a great weekend!

October Knit Something of the Month

 

Mommy finished blocking her Vlad shawl yesterday!  It's a very nice size for me.  Do you see how the center spine of the shawl lines up with my spine?  I think this shawl should be mine, at least until I have to get up and walk around.  Or chase the Max kitty.  I don't think it will chase the Max kitty very well.  Mommy says she needs it back so she can finish weaving in the ends (I don't mind the ends hanging out, I might eat them later and then they won't have to be woven in).  Maybe I'll just take a nap in it for a bit and she'll forget to take it back.  I think since it's November now, she'll need to start her November Knit Something of the Month project, so maybe she'll forget about this one.  I'll put it in my toy basket after my nap...