I Have Yarn!

I have yarn for my mommy!  I’m not sure that I’m supposed to have this yarn, so I’m being very careful not to snarfle it and put it in my mouth and all the other things I really, really want to do with this yarn.  In fact, I’m completely avoiding eye contact with it because I don’t want to startle the yarn and make it run off.

Mommy told me that this yarn is for one of her Loopy Academy projects.  She says it’s for the Texture project and it’s Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock Heavyweight in Big Brain Blue.  She hasn’t told me what she’s knitting with it yet, but she seems to know.  She did say she was going to wind it and start knitting today, so maybe she’ll tell all of us later this week.

Mommy said she got most of her Loopy Academy stuff yesterday so she’s ready to start making things!  I don’t know what Loopy Academy is.  I probably wouldn’t want to make eye contact with it.  I don’t make eye contact with my kitty, Max, and so far, he hasn’t killed me in my sleep.  Kitties are sharp and pointy, but Mommy says I’m a big, cuddly marshmallow.

Yesterday

Yesterday, Mom and I headed to Fort Worth to check out MadTosh Crafts, the retail storefront of Madelinetosh Yarns (which are dyed here in Fort Worth).  Despite it being pretty close to us, we had never made it down there (and it’s quicker to get there than I thought it would be).  Anyway, it was wonderful and amazing and I’ve never seen that much Tosh in one place!  We saw some of the new colors and everyone was very nice and helpful and we had a wonderful time!  We’ll definitely be going back!

But you’re probably here for the yarn, aren’t you?  Ok, here’s what I got!

From left to right, Edison Bulb in DK Twist, Charcoal in DK Twist, Blue Bell in DK Twist, and Worn Denim in Tosh Merino Light.

The Edison Bulb is for some fingerless gloves to wear when I run.  The ones I have are getting ratty and I need something bright to keep from getting run over.  The Edison Bulb is bright, and it won’t clash with my pink jacket.  (Or it will clash so badly, it won’t matter, I can’t decide.)  Since I won’t use the entire skein on the gloves, I got the Charcoal to make Caleb a hat, with an Edison Bulb stripe.

The Blue Bell is for another Tea Leaves Cardigan.  I’ve made one in creamy white and I love it, so I want one in another color.  I was actually looking for a pink, but I couldn’t find the right pink and the Blue Bell spoke to me.  It’s lighter than it photographed (I think Edison Bulb blew my camera’s mind).  I’ll have to track down some great buttons for it.

The Worn Denim will be a shawl.  I kept looking at all the TML (Tosh Merino Light) and while I really don’t need another blue green shawl, I kept picking this color up so clearly it needed to come home with me.  It’s also lighter than it shows here.

You would all be very proud, I left all the Cove there!  They had it in several bases, but since I have so much Cove already, I was afraid it was getting a little weird.

Second Verse, Same As The First

I’m all the way down the leg of my second really crazy sock!  These do seem to go pretty quickly, even though I have to pay attention to short rows.  Next up is the heel (which does take some time and some thinking) and then things should speed up again.

It’s just a short blog post today.  I’m off to the Madelinetosh store today - MadTosh Crafts!

Knitter's Crayon Box

 

I thought I'd give you a break from Glacier (next time you see them, they'll be done) and show you something new.  Actually the yarn for something new, or most of the yarn.  This is for a Christmas gift, but I'm not going to tell you exactly what the project is yet.  All of the yarn is Madelinetosh Tosh DK which is a multi-plied superwash merino (not to be confused with Madelinetosh Tosh Merino DK, which is a singles yarn of superwash merino).  I've got to get one more color that The Loopy Ewe is out of, but I've contacted someone on Ravelry who has the color in their stash and is looking to sell it.  From the top, starting with the black and going clockwise the colors are:

• Cloak
• Mare
• Ink
• Fathom
• Betty Draper's Blues
• Norway Spruce
• Moorland
• Jade
• Nutmeg
• French Grey
• Moccasin
• Sequoia
• Oxblood

The color I'm going to add is Tart which is a dark, true red.  It would sit between the Sequoia and Oxblood in the wheel, if I were working things in order.  When I was picking colors, I was looking for colors you might find in an antique Oriental carpet.  Maybe the kind that flies!  Before I start working with all these colors, I'm going to wash all the skeins, just to make sure none of the colors are going to bleed on any of the other colors.  This will take some time to get everything washed and dried, but I'll be sure to blog it once I actually get started on this project.  For now, I'm just loving all these rich, deep colors.

Have a great weekend!

Camp Loopy Reward!

 

I got my Wollmeise!  This was the prize for completing all three Camp Loopy projects this summer.  This is the first Wollmeise I've ever even seen in real life and I just love the color.  I got Neptun Dark which is a gorgeous dark blue green color.  It's the Merino Superwash base, which gives me 574 yards.  I'm thinking about making And So Are You with it (this pattern is part of an ebook with Roses Are Red, Violets are Blue, Sugar is Sweet, And So Are You, and Sugared Violets - the name makes more sense with it's other patterns).  For now though, it's just going to sit with me so I can pet it.

Stash Enhancement

The test knit for That Which Rhymes With Pew Nattern is blocking upstairs right now. I'll be putting together the actual pattern part of it and getting photos and getting it all finished up today and tomorrow (so stay tuned, this is a fast knit, perfect for the current season)!

In the meantime, I'll show you some yarn that will someday become Man Socks. On the right is Ultra Alpaca Fine in black. I've never used this yarn, but I love the Ultra Alpaca in the worsted weight. This has a slightly different fiber content than the other (which makes it better for socks in my opinion) - it's 50% wool, 20% alpaca, and 30% nylon. It looks like it's on the fine side for fingering weight, but I think it will make very nice socks - if it doesn't drive me nuts knitting Man Socks in black. On the left is Dream in Color Smooshy in Grey Tabby, which ironically caused quite a bit of trouble this morning (an actual dark, grey tabby, not the yarn). Apparently this strange cat decided he (or she, didn't look) wanted in our house this morning and wasn't taking no for an answer. This cat clearly has been in a home before because for one thing he went straight for the door and started scratching and meowing at it, and for another he had the physique of Jabba the Hutt, and you just don't get that build living outside and hunting for your food. When we opened the big garage door to take Caleb to school/go to work, Jabba the Cat trotted into the garage and started carrying on by the door into the house. We tried some "No kitty, shoo kitty" but Jabba wasn't listening at all. Finally I approached Jabba, who didn't seem too bothered by me, lifted him up (Mickael thought I'd get a hernia) and took him back outside. Jabba had no problem being carried by me (another sign he's used to a family) and promptly trotted back into the garage after I set him down. (In my own defense, I was hoping Jabba would go about his business elsewhere after being taken from the garage, but no one is as determined as a cat who's made up his mind.) One more time carrrying him out and holding him in the yard while Mickael got the cars into the driveway and closed the garage door and we were finally able to leave. We pulled away while Jabba sat in our front yard carrying on like only a cat that's had all his hopes and dreams come crashing down around himself can yowl. I was fortunately able to sneak the car back into the garage after dropping Caleb off and get the garage door closed before Jabba realized what had happened, but he sat outside for about 30 minutes and meowled after I came home. I may be a prisoner in my own home today! Oh, the yarn, yes, that's why we're all really here, isn't it? Anyway, its a very dark, manly grey yarn that's mostly solid but there are some light and dark parts to it, so it should be fun to knit up. It seems to be a very bouncy yarn, but I've never knit with this one either. And just in case Jabba is holding me hostage, you should probably send yarn - for me, not Jabba.

I'm off to finish up the Pew Nattern!

Drive By Blogging

Just a quick post this morning! We're on the last part of Summer before school starts and Caleb and I are trying to get things together for that, as well as squeeze in a little bit more Summer fun. I didn't get very much knitting done yesterday because I was cleaning and straightening my pantry. I still have two more shelves to go, but it's looking a LOT better than it did.

So instead of showing you progress on one of my projects, I give you a little something that came in the mail yesterday - The Loopy Ewe's Fourth Anniversary Kit*! This is the first anniversary set I've ever gotten from them and I love it! The mug is just adorable, the pattern looks like a nice sock pattern, and the yarn is one of the Pink Lemon's favorite colors ever! It's Dream in Color's Smooshy yarn with cashmere (a new blend for Smooshy) and I'm thinking it's going to be a small shawl or scarf instead of socks. No time to figure out what pattern I'll use, I can figure that out when Summer's over!

*The kit is sold out now, but they will be carrying the new Smooshy yarn in other colors as soon as they get it in.

New Yarn for a New Featherweight

I knew I would make another Featherweight Cardigan (or maybe more than that), and it was such a perfect take-along project, I'll be starting it soon. I decided to make this one in fingering weight yarn and I decided to try a new yarn - The Loopy Ewe's Solid Series. They just released this yarn and it comes in a bunch of colors - 90 to be exact. It's a 3 ply, fingering weight, Superwash Merino and this is the Smoke color. I'll have to check gauge before I can start the cardi, since the first one I made is in laceweight. I'm thinking of using a cabled rib for edgings on this one, but I can decide that later.

Stash Enhancement

On Friday, Mom and I decided to have a girls day so we went shopping and out to lunch. Of course there was a yarn store involved (The Knitting Nook), and a few things followed me home. I knew The Knitting Nook carried the Hiya Hiya needles in the 9 inch length, which I was interested in for sleeves of future Featherweight Cardigans (I know I'll be making that sweater again, possibly several times), and sure enough, they had the size I needed. They very nicely let me open the package to play with them in my hands and while they felt different, they didn't feel bad and I think I'll be able to use them. I also found the new Knitscene magazine from IK. I think this magazine is marketed as a beginning knitting magazine (when it first began, it was definitely easy and simple designs) and while the articles are geared more towards the basics, the designs themselves are very wearable. There are some simpler, more beginner friendly projects, and while nothing is super complex, make your eyes bleed knitting, there are bigger projects with very nice shaping and interesting details to them too. I think of all the magazines I've seen, Knitscene has more designs that look like something I would buy as a garment than any other magazines (if that makes any sense). The other thing I picked up was a complete impulse buy. They had a sample garment of Cia from Louet there, worked in a caramel pumpkin kind of color, and while that color is something that would make me look like an extra in Dawn of the Dead (or Shaun of the Dead for that matter), I loved the design. As luck would have it, they had just gotten in a shipment of Louet KidLin yarn, so I picked up the pattern and 5 skeins of Winter White Kidlin to make it. (The label says White, but it's not a true white, or as creamy as an ivory, so I'm calling it Winter White.)

Back to spinning tomorrow!

Yesterday

Yesterday this showed up in our house:

Yes, it was my birthday! Caleb and Mickael picked out this cake for me (after a brief discussion of a Batman cake) and I think it's just perfect. First of all, it's chocolate. Second, check out the princesses! Cinderella is my favorite movie ever, Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) had some issues with a spinning wheel, and Belle (Beauty and the Beast) is the first brunette princess! (Snow White had black hair, not brown and is probably my least favorite Disney princess.) I know it probably killed Caleb to pick out a princess cake, but I thought it was really sweet. Oh, and guess what? Cinderella's skirt lights up! Because it's not a truly happy birthday until a princesses' skirt lights up. Or something.

I also have to show you what Mickael and Caleb got me:

A whole box full of Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece! I'm going to do a Hexagon blanket after I finish The Babette and that's what these are for. There are a couple of other colors I want to add to the pile but this gives me the majority of the colors I need. (I've tucked in a couple of partial skeins I had in my stash from previous projects too, that's why there are some smaller looking skeins on the left.) For now, I'll just stare at all the pretty colors in the box until it's time to start the blanket!

Stash Enhancement and Lump Birds

On Friday Mom and I decided to go shopping! We are slowly working our way around the yarn stores here in the DFW area and Friday we hit The Shabby Sheep and The Woolie Ewe. Both were lots of fun and some things came home from each store. We started at The Shabby Sheep which is in a small house in downtown Dallas. The size of the shop didn't really look very big outside, but they have packed it full to bursting with yarns, books and all the little notions and accessories we knitters are suckers for. Great customer service rounded out our shopping experience and we will definitely go back there! I got a skein of Blue Heron Rayon Metallic yarn (the one in the center above) which will probably be used for a pattern design I'm bouncing around in my head, and two skeins of Spud and Chloe Fine in Glow Worm (on the right above), which might also become a pattern design. I had never seen any of the Spud and Chloe yarns in person, only on the Internets, and the colors are just as lovely in real life. I'd love to use some of their Sweater yarn (worsted weight) for something. Also, their little logo is just great. I could just squeeze that fat little sheep!

After a quick lunch, we were off to The Woolie Ewe. I had been there before but Mom had never been before, and of course, it's filled with yarn , so it's lots of fun. Driving between the two shops, I realized that I would need something to put borders on The Babette and luckily for me, The Woolie Ewe has Spud and Chloe too, so I picked up 3 more skeins of Fine in Sassafras (on the left in the picture) - two for the actual borders and one to use in some of the blocks. I have used two other pinks that are very similar in the blocks and I think this color will edge it all nicely.

Saturday night, the lump birds* got weird again and plopped down (and "lumped") on the back patio this time, for several hours. There was no snow (yeah!) and what's strange is that they aren't anywhere near the bird feeder. Usually when they lump, they lump by the bird feeder (thus getting in the way of any birds who actually want to eat) or on the fence - probably safer than lumping on the ground. I don't know if the weird lump bird behavior will continue every weekend (or why they get weird on the weekends), but I'll keep documenting it on the blog.

*The lump birds are actually Mourning Doves, but since they tend to plop down in the way of the bird feeder and park themselves, Caleb decided (as a toddler) that "those birds are just lumps." Lump birds they are!

Book Stash Enhancement

I got an Amazon gift card for Christmas so last week some new books came home! Except for the first book, I've given Ravelry links to the books so you can click through the designs in the books and see them for yourself. (I'm assuming if you're not a Ravelry member, you're probably not a knitter and you really don't care about knitting designs. If you are a knitter and you're not a Ravelry member, you need to fix that.)

The first book I got was Respect the Spindle by Abby Franquemont. Abby spent part of her childhood in rural Peru where she was taught to spin by the local population. Abby has probably forgotten more about spindling than most of us (myself included) will ever learn. I'm still reading through the book but what I've seen so far is wonderful (and the photos are beautifully done). Many of us start our spinning with a spindle before jumping in and purchasing a wheel and this book makes you look at the spindle as far more than just a "gateway" tool to spinning.

Next is The Eclectic Sole by Janel Laidman. This is a self published sock book that has 14 different patterns pretty much covering all the bases for socks: top down, toe up, sideways, solids, textures, colorwork, lace, you name it, there's a sock in here with it. There are some really unique and beautiful designs in this book, but being self published, it is probably hard to track down at most bookstores.

Also by Janel Laidman is The Enchanted Sole. This is her (again self published) sequel to the above book. It has 20 sock patterns all based on fairy tales and folk tales. Again all types of construction techniques are used and this book includes a good number of knee high socks (a style I've never made but would like to).

Finally, if Janel's books cover all the sock knitting bases for standard construction, Cat Bordhi once again completely leaves the ball park, goes off roading where no sock knitter has gone before and still comes back with designs that fit human feet. Personal Footprints for Insouciant Sock Knitters is her second book in her "New Pathways for Sock Knitters Series." I have the first book and while I look through it periodically, I've never knit from it. It's not that the designs aren't wonderful, it's that I still haven't knit the little homework sock you're supposed to do before you start the patterns. (It's so you can understand the patterns - probably an important part.) Since I tend to want to knit socks RIGHT NOW, I turn to more traditional construction techniques. This year I plan to sit down and knit that little homework sock and start understanding why and how socks knit upside down and backwards (OK, it's not quite like that, but have you seen her designs?) can still fit feet, and seemingly fit them well. I expect you guys, as The Blog (kind of a warmer, fuzzier collective than The Borg) to hold me to this after the Olympics are over!

Cherry Blossom Shawl Yarn

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that I had joined the Cherry Blossom Shawl KAL on Ravelry. The designer was getting the pattern ready to sell because the IK issue it had originally appeared in was out of print. Well the pattern is now available, I have a copy and I have my yarn. This is Silk Cloud from Shibui Knits in the Blossom colorway (appropriate, no?) Now the astute among you (or perhaps just the better caffeinated) will ask, "But didn't you just finish that big wrap thingy with pale pink yarn?" Yes, I did just finish the Silky Alpaca Lace Wrap in Geisha from Blue Moon Fiber Arts in Rosebud, but Rosebud is a warm, soft pink while Blossom is a cool, soft pink. Two different animals entirely, see?

Automatic Stash Enhancement

Since all current knitting is off limits for blogging right now, I thought I would show you some stash enhancement that's taken place around here. As I've mentioned before, I'm a member of the Spunky Eclectic Fiber Club. This means that around the end of each month, I get a package of handdyed fiber on my doorstep. I don't know what kind of fiber it will be or what colors, but fiber showing up once a month is never a bad thing. The Rosebud yarn that I just finished is the May Fiber shipment and I finished it just in time, because on Saturday, June's fiber arrived.

This is Flowering Weeds, a Merino/Kid Mohair (70/30) blend for June. I have two of these 3 ounce balls of fiber because I get the double helping of fiber each month. I love the colors in these but they are definitely off my usual path for colorways. I think that's part of the fun with this club - you don't always get things you would necessarily buy if you ran across them at a fiber show or on the Internet. This is not to say that they are ugly, they just don't always fall within the colors I usually work with. Sometimes, when you spin up something outside of your usual colors, you find you like something you never really considered. It also gives you a change of pace to work with colors outside of your usual range and this is a good thing. Even with the double helping, I don't feel like I've got a huge commitment fiberwise each month. This colorway isn't telling me what it wants to be yet, but it's saying that it wants to be spun fine and made into a cabled yarn, so I'll start with that and see what happens. Sometimes it's fun to let the fiber decide!

MDS&W Yarn

In the five times I've gotten to go to Maryland, I bought more yarn than fiber this year (except the first time I went when I hadn't started spinning yet). My fiber stash is pretty big at this point and the fact that I have several sweaters worth of wool to spin meant I really didn't need to go crazy with fiber. From left to right:

1. Primero from Brooks Farm. I got one skein of this, but it's a 500 yard skein of DK weight Kid Mohair.


2. Tierra Blend from Brooks Farm. I got one skein of this bulky lambswool and alpaca (70/30) and plan to make a hat out of it. Do not remind me that I don't really wear hats. It's soft. I like it.


3. Duet from Brooks Farm. I have enough of this DK weight Kid Mohair/Fine Wool (one ply each) yarn to make a large, drapy sweater.


4. Soft Touch Wool/Cotton from Shelridge Farms in Amethyst. This is a DK weight wool and cotton blend (85/15) that's very soft and the undyed cotton bits give it a bit of a tweedy look. It's also a handdyed solid, so it's not a flat color. I have enough of this to make a sweater and I've already started knitting one from it. I will show you what I have so far on Friday.


5. Wullenstudio Sock Yarn in Sunshine on My Shoulder. This is a skein of yarn Caleb picked out for socks for himself. The boy is definitely not afraid of color!

As you can see, I spent a bit of time in the Brooks Farm booth this year! I've never braved the crowds before at their booth, but this year I wiggled my way into the middle (made easier by my big bag - if I clobbered you with it I'm sorry) and got to see what the fuss was all about. One thing I did finally see in person this year for the first time was the Clapotis. Now I know that two or three years ago everyone and their dog knit a Clapotis. (Some of you might have even knit one for your dog.) I am one of the twenty knitters worldwide who hasn't done this pattern yet. In fact, I haven't even seen one in person before last weekend for some reason. Anyway, after seeing several of them at the show, I will admit to being intrigued. Is there a Clapotis in my future? Who knows. I don't have yarn for one right now, but there is a possibility that I might be interested in making one this summer. I will have to think about this some more...

All New Yarn Must Be Approved By A Licensed Inspector Upon Entering The Premesis

Fortunately, I have a Yarn Inspector on site at all times. Just in case you've ever been curious about what goes into a yarn inspection, I was able to get some photos of the process.

It begins with a general sniffing, to determine the animal of origin and make sure there is no bacon that accidentally got wound in with the yarn.
A gentle roll on the yarn determines if it's soft enough for actual knitting use.
A full body roll checks the quality of the skein winding (and it just feels soooooo good!)
Finally, each skein is rechecked to see how it held up to the inspection. The inspector typically reports his findings and then takes a nice nap so that he's ready for the next batch of yarn that needs checking out. So far he's never found any bacon in the skeins, but he remains optimistic, knowing that he is young and his entire career as a yarn inspector stretches before him.

The yarn being inspected is my Dream In Color Classy that I got from The Loopy Ewe for the Knitalong. This is the Cool Fire color which was my original pick. She ships so quickly that she probably shipped this out before I even tried to change colors, but that's fine - this pink is a pink, not a darker berry color so it is different from what I've been knitting with. The yarn is super soft (as most superwash wools are), but I'll be swatching it carefully and washing the swatches several times because I've had bad experiences with superwash growing in the past.

Button, Button, Who's Got the Button?

Yesterday was spent sorting through papers for taxes and trying to get as much as possible organized. I also spun on more of the berries merino (BTW, I'm spinning this on my Kromski Symphony but I also have a Majacraft Rose - for the person who asked in the comments yesterday), but since I showed you that yesterday, I won't bore you with the same thing again so soon. Instead I thought I'd share a new source of buttons and shawl pins I recently came across.

As anyone who has knit a cardigan requiring buttons can tell you, the search for buttons can be brutal. The wrong button can kill a sweater, no matter how well designed, how well knitted and how fabulous the yarn is. The right button can make a design sing like a robin in Springtime. Finding the right button isn't always easy, and it can't just work colorwise and sizewise, it also has to be the right weight. A few weeks ago I found out about a new source for buttons that are now being made by a jewelry artist in lead free pewter - Annie Adams. I'm a big fan of metal buttons and these are pretty and interesting without being overwhelming to a design. She has them in several sizes and also has shawl pins and belt buckles in her designs. If your cardigan doesn't need buttons but uses a zipper pull, fear not! She has zipper pulls! All of her knitting notions (they're really jewelry for knitting) come in two different designs -

Aurora which is angular and has a bit of a modern feel while also reminding me of ice crystals.

Nova is more curvy and reminds me of growing things and to my mind, hints at the past without being frou frou.

I haven't used any of her buttons or other notions yet, but I think some of the smaller Nova buttons will look amazing with whatever I make from the Mojito Love in an Ice Blue Mist yarn that I spun a while back.

What are your favorite sources for sweater buttons? Leave a link in the comments if they're online!

Stash Enhancement for Pattern Purposes

It sounds like a more noble cause than just plain stash enhancement, don't you think? I got these yarns to use to write a sock pattern. Not all of them will be used in the pattern, but since you can't always tell how a yarn will look on the computer, I like to get more than I'll need. And also, that way I don't run out of sock yarn. Because that could be disastrous. And really inconvenient. Well, I'm sure you understand, and if you don't, knit a sock, then you'll understand.

Anyway, these are from Yarn 4 Socks, a web based yarn store that specializes in (wait for it) - SOCK YARN! From left to right are Shibui Knits in Breeze, Madelinetosh in Logwood, Fleece Artists Seawool in Spring, and Seacoast Handpaints in Olive Branch. You'll have to wait and see which ones I use for the pattern and the pattern won't be available until after the first of the year, but these yarns are so pretty, I had to share. Also, its fun to cause trouble.

Just thought I'd enable, I mean share.

I have several projects waiting in my stash for me to get started on, so I thought I'd share a few of them with you. One of the things I finally did this summer was order some hat kits and an earwarmer kit from Bea Ellis. She has put together these great kits with patterns, two colors of wool yarn (your pick) and a matching cotton yarn for you to knit a liner all for under $20.00! They all have a Norwegian influence in the design because that's what Bea Ellis specializes in. Looking for Dale of Norway? She's got it! Check out her book list - there are some gems in there that I'll be picking up soon myself.

I had first seen these kits when Kary did one and thought they looked great, so I bookmarked the site and forgot about it. Well, last year I got an ear infection and had to wear a polar fleece earwarmer (we will not discuss my knitterly humiliation at this, but I needed my ears warm faster than I could knit). This summer, I realized I still hadn't done anything about the keeping the ears warm situation so I wandered over to her site and picked out a couple of kits. If you click here you can see her kits (or click on Bea's Originals from the home page). I picked up the Nordic Headband and the Kristen Hat for myself, and Caleb picked out The Skier hat for himself. What colors did we choose? Well, you'll have to wait until I start knitting them to find that out - but I did get in my new Knitpicks Harmony needles (the wood Options ones) and they are GORGEOUS! Really well finished and smooth with nice pointy points on them.

We now return to our regularly scheduled programming

I'm Back! The little guy is back in school, we got everything taken care of to get him ready to go back, and I've pretty much figured out a routine to get everything done in the morning. The best part? I haven't had to do my drill sergeant impression yet! I'm sure there will be a morning or two that I'll have to turn up the volume to get him going, but so far, we're doing pretty great. Finn is even helping to wake him up - one morning he barked at him and the next morning he licked his face from chin to forehead - both techniques worked. I appreciate the help, but Finn has ulterior motives - he doesn't get his breakfast until after Caleb is fed.

Anyway, now that I've gotten the morning routine figured out (for now), I hope to get back to blogging regularly on weekdays again. For those of you who are waiting on the finished pattern for MS3, I'm working on it as fast as I can and now have more time to devote to finishing it since the rest of my life is settling down. Just be patient a bit longer and it will be available soon. (I realize I've been saying this for a while but when you think about the fact that the patterns for MS1 and MS2 didn't come out until October, I think I'm doing a pretty good job of it this year.)

So, since I refuse to cast on anything else until the MS3 pattern is finished (socks don't count), and I'm pretty sure that you guys are sick of seeing gray socks, I thought I'd share some of the stash enhancement that's been going on around here.

This is a skein of Kauni yarn in the EL colorway. I love the Kauni Cardigan pattern and I love seeing the way they are making up, so when Jannette started carrying the Kauni yarn, I had to get some. The color is photographing a little bit lighter than it really is: the navy is a very dark, almost black navy and the eggplant color is also very dark. The color that looks like royal blue in the photo is a darker, richer color than true royal. I have enough yarn to do the entire cardi in this colorway, but I'm not sure if the pattern will show up since the colors are so dark, so I might play around with using a different yarn for the second color.

Finally, if you haven't heard yet, KnitPicks is now doing wood needles for their interchangeable needle sets! I had just figured that wood needles wouldn't be strong enough for a set like their Options set, but apparently they've figured out a way to get them to work. I'm very excited about this because I really prefer to knit with wood or bamboo needles and I've already placed an order for some. I can't wait to see them!