Thursday, August 31, 2006

Sherbet Socks Done!

I am very happy to report that my sherbet socks are complete!


My goal was to finish them in time for Sock-A-Month 2 for August. I did finish them and with only 2 hours to spare! They are made from lana grossa meilenweit cotton fun & stripes color #345. They are a plain vanilla sock, which are always fun to knit. They are going to cheer me up when the grey clouds roll in. I am so proud. Now to get cracking on my Trekking socks or one of the other pairs in the sidebar.

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Background

I've been in a bit of a redecorating sort of mood so I decided to put up a new background on the blog. I hope everyone likes it:

Monday, August 28, 2006

Odds & Ends

There are just a few odds and ends that I have been meaning to talk about, but keep forgetting.


Podcasts: It seems like quite a few of the podcasts out there have not been updating. My hope is that they are just taking a break for the summer and will be back when it is fall again. I have, however, found two new ones that will be in the sidebar as well. I found Lime & Violet from listening to Cast-On and I think it is rather interesting. They seem to be updating regularly, so I hope that it will keep going like that. The second one that I found is Pixie Purls. I have read her blog every so often and it is really cute, I love her icon. Her podcast is really cute as well and I have enjoyed listening to it so far.

Interesting Websites: I found a couple of interesting websites while surfing around yesterday. One is Whipup.net, which I am sure that many of you already know about. They have a really cool article that is a must read if you are dyeing your own yarn with commercial dyes. It is by Sweet Georgia, which I read her blog as well. Another site that was linked off of there was Print & Pattern, which has tons of pictures of nothing but patterned and textured objects. It is really inspirational and a good way to get a mind full of color ideas.

In knitting news: I am almost done with my Sherbet Socks, but haven't taken pictures yet. I want to get it done before the end of the month so that it counts for Sock-A-Month 2. I also started my felted rabbit, which is making me very happy. My goal is to make it baby size so that I can dress it and have a good excuse to make tiny baby things =).

In Shop news: I am going to have a 20% off all of my handmade felted bags through the month of September. You can check them out at lavendersheep.etsy.com.

In Other news: Sarah has found a home for her summer top that she had so much trouble with. My mother came into the shop and all the tops that looked not quite right on Sarah or myself, looked awesome on my mother. You can see for yourself in this post on Sarah's Blog.

In Other Other News: The fire is well under control. It is 75% contained, which is great news for us. They now have a picture of the fire on their website.

Sunday, August 27, 2006

A Day at the Beach

Yesterday I went with my family to the Oregon Coast.


We started out our trip with a visit to the Tillamook Creamery, where we got to see how they make cheese. I have been here several times since I was a child, so it was a lot of fun to revisit. We had lunch there, which was really tasty and also really inexpensive. Except for my parents which packed a picnic lunch and ate out on the grass. Unfortunately, we didn't get any of their ice cream on this trip because there were just too many people. Next time though =). The sock enjoyed it and I got lots of knitting done on it on the way there. From Hood River to the coast it is roughly 3 hours (or 180 miles) one way.


Our next stop was Seaside, which was packed full of people. I should have taken a picture of the mess that it was in (though all my pics this time are courtesy of my husband). Apparently the Hood to Coast Relay was this weekend and all the participants had finished and were all over Seaside. It looked really cool, but my family does not deal well with crowds so we headed up the coast to find a more secluded beach. (The pic was taken on one of the many scenic points along the coast).


Once we found a more secluded beach we went and waded around in tide pools and looked for interesting sea shells. My husband had never before found a whole sand dollar, so we went on the prowl for one. The top one, with the hole, is the one that I found and the bottom two are ones that my husband found. The one on the right is the one that he found with my mother's help, so he decided he wanted to find one all by himself. He looked around and finally found the one on the left. The beach that we go to is really awesome for finding things. The best thing ever found was a shark tooth found by my brother a couple of years ago. Which is really a rare thing to find on an Oregon beach, since we are so far north. The water was frigid (at first) and we had to wear jackets, but it was still warm enough for shorts, which made it perfect Oregon Coast weather.


I really love the Oregon Coast. We had a wonderful day and I enjoyed it thoroughly. So, I will leave you with this awesome picture of the sunset over the ocean.

Thursday, August 24, 2006

August One Skein Package Received

I am very happy! I received my last One Skein Package yesterday and look at all these goodies:


The last part of the One Skein swap (which most of you probably already know) was to make a one skein project for your pal. The project that she sent me was this gorgeous felted bag. It is a mixture of green Cascade 220 and that lovely white yarn that she sent me in my first one skein package. I have plans for that white yarn and only have to complete one of my on the needles projects to get to work on it. I think I might use it for one of my design prototypes to get general shaping and then do the final project out of imperial wool. I just love working on a new design =)

Anyway, back to the fabulous things that she sent me. She sent me a lovely pencil case that will be perfect for holding more tools. She also has an incredible knack for picking out interesting tools. The one that she sent me this time was a thimble that goes on your index finger and carries two yarns for lovely things like fair isle. I think I can put it to good use on my husbands long abandoned skull socks (I don't have photos of recent progress, but it isn't much), for which he should be very happy. She then sent me the Stitch 'n Bitch Calendar, which I have been eyeing since it came into the shop this last week, and a lovely notepad for taking notes. Last, but certainly not least, she sent me this gorgeous roving that is dyed rainbow colors from one end to the other. I think that I might just have to try out navajo plying again to keep the colors true. I'm thinking about using this roving with the other roving she sent me with July's package to make an interesting welcome mat or rug. Hmm....have to think about that =)

Finally my pal revealed herself to be Highlyn of Ancient Threads Farm & Fiber Mill. Unfortunately they have decided to shutdown their mill because of time constraints. She has sent me some really pretty fiber from there and it will be sad for the fiber community to have lost them as a resource. I don't know her blog yet, but she has promised to email it to me soon and when she does I will make sure to let all of you know.

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Garterlac Washcloth Pattern #2

Ok, I have written out the pattern for my no side triangles Garterlac Dishcloth. It is in .pdf and you can download it here. I am also going to put up an icon in the sidebar with a link to the pattern.

Now if you have knit a garterlac dishcloth or even something in Entrelac, then you will know how difficult it is to wrap your head around not having those nifty side triangles. It took a bit of experimenting, but I think that I have down a pretty easy pattern for it. So, if you want something a little different for your washcloths, check it out!

Sunday, August 20, 2006

Garterlac Revisited, PIF & Fire on the Mountain

Ok, I have been holding off on posting until I got this lovely done:


I really wanted to see what would happen if I made a garterlac washcloth without the side triangles. It is actually rather simple once it gets going. Of course I had to frog parts of it a couple of times, but I think I have a pattern. I'll post it as soon as I get it written up. I have lots of notes and I'm pretty sure that it will be straight forward. It was quite an adventure. My big reason for knitting this was to decide about my bathroom rug. I think in the end that I will make one with the side triangles, because I think the lovely shapely sides will curl up if they are left on the floor and walked on for any period of time. It makes a lovely washcloth though.


One of the things that I have been waiting to post is this awesome package that I got from Sarah (she actually sent it through the mail!). Sarah decided to start sending out packages for Pay It Forward. She sent me this ball of Opal Solid (great for lace socks) and Meilenweit Inca for another beautiful pair of self striping socks. Ooh, I'm excited to knit these. Yay! I already have at least three people to pay it forward too. I'm pretty excited about that too.


In other news: it is really really smoky out today. I actually had to close all the windows to keep the smoke out. It's about like camping, lots of wood smoke. The picture above is hazy from the smoke, not from glare! It is also a picture to the North, when the fire is to the South of us!

Compare it to this picture taken in June. So nice and clear and not smoky! The fire is about 35% contained, but they are saying that we will be seeing smoke into October. Ugh! Maybe the wind will shift and send it back towards Mt. Hood again.

In other knitting news: I have been in a design mood lately. I have designed two sweaters and a rabbit in the last week. I haven't decided entirely what is going to be done with them yet, but I will keep you posted.

Friday, August 18, 2006

Violets are Blue

I thought this was cute, so I thought that I would post it, especially since Violets & Pansies are my favorite flower:


I am a
Violet


What Flower
Are You?



Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Knitting, Commissions, & Projects

I have been knitting away at quite a few projects. So I thought that I would take a break and knit one of these:


This is a Garterlac Dishcloth from Criminy Jickets. I actually first found this pattern linked from RedShirt Knitting. I have really wanted to learn how to do Entrelac and I have also wanted to knit new bathmats for my bathroom. I think I am going to use this as inspiration. I have one more sample to knit to test a theory of mine and then I will take the plunge into the bathmat world. Also, my inspiration has been fired up recently because Knot Another Hat is now carrying Peaches & Cream in 30 different colors, which will soon be up on the website. There have been quite a few requests for warshcloth cotton since the Mason Dixon Book has come out, and the yarn has been very popular since it came in this last week. Sarah can even order it in 1 pound cones, which is what I'm thinking of for my lovely set of bathmats (2 to be exact).


Then I actually got one sock done of my Sherbet Set. It makes me really happy to see how bright and cheery this sock is. I just need to go and cast on the second one. It is made out of lana grossa meilenweit cotton fun & stripes color #345.

I actually have received quite a few commissions this week. Three to be exact. One is for thick & Thin Spun yarn, which the supplies for should arrive today.


The second was for this lovely set of dyed yarns from my shop. She just couldn't choose which one so she ordered all three and lives all the way in Belgium.


The third is this brilliant lime green fingering yarn. Which reminds me, I will do solids on commission only. I know how difficult it is to find solids especially when you want to make lace socks or an interesting textured pattern. So any color that is in my shop from my hand-dyed yarn I can do as a solid.

In other knitting news: Sarah's original design is going to be on the front cover of a new book that is coming out this fall. Be sure to check out her blog for more details. Also, Sabrina (the self-proclaimed fiber prodigy) has been knitting with the yarn that she dyed and it is striping on its own! (Technically it is spiraling, but we won't quibble with details). Check out her blog to see her sock in action.

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Packages Revealed!

Finally all will be revealed. I feel especially like I need to put up the ksks package that I sent out because my partner is blogless. I tried to convince her to have a blog, (and I am pretty convincing just ask Sarah or Sabrina) but to no avail. Perhaps she will consider one soon =). Anyway, I will start with my One Skein Package:

As I said yesterday, my one skein pal was Bev of Pomo Golightly. Her favorite color is black, seconded by a combination of pink and green. So, for my first package I sent her a copy of Southwest Trading Companies free pattern for the Quick and Easy Soy Silk Stole and the required 2 balls of Soy Silk. It is a really beautiful stole that is very popular in the store. I would put a link to the pattern, but it appears that they have taken it down from the site. I think Sarah still has it, if you really want a copy.


The second package I sent her a skein of yarn that I handspun in neutral colors, a bag that I had in my stash, a book that was made by Sarah's sister (I really love the gumball machine in the picture), and then (Bev's favorite) ginger candy.

My last package I decided to go all out. I found out that Bev is a spinner. I truly believe that all spinners should have a copy of In Sheep's Clothing, because it goes over a variety of breeds of sheep and the purpose for their fleece. I use it a lot when shopping online because then I can tell if the fleece is going to be soft or not, without having to take the descriptions word for it. You guys have seen the progress on the scarf, which is in autumn mixed with black colors. Then, because Bev was trying to spin sock yarn, I thought I would send her 4 oz of my handpainted superwash roving. The rest are extras, like the bag in the back, more ginger, bookplates, and a couple of reeses.


Here is my KSKS package. I just had to join KSKS, even if Bev was hosting it. My pal was Elizabeth, but she doesn't have a blog. I have been watching the KSKS blog and all the fabulous kits that everyone was sending out. I hope this is adequate. I decided instead of making her two bags, like everybody else, I would send her two sock projects. She has been knitting socks for quite awhile, but vanilla socks on dpns. So I sent her a patterned sock pattern for one skein and a vanilla sock on 2 circs for the second one. Then I sent all the accessories for making her socks.

I had a lot of fun with both of these swaps. I really loved shopping and designing for these two wonderful people.

Monday, August 14, 2006

My KSKS Pal Rocks!

I received my KSKS package actually on Saturday, but I have been procrastinating about taking pictures. Not because I don't like what I got (because I truly love everything I got), but because I have been either lazy or really really busy. Either is a good candidate, I guess.

My pal was Tisha of Crazy about Sox, which is a really cute blog.


So here is the package in all it's glory. Lots and lots of beautiful stuff. The bag is fully reversible and has lots of pockets (pockets = good)! She really has good taste and used lots of pretty floral prints, including 2 project bags that were actually serged at the bottom! They are really cute and I am sure that I will put them to good use. She then sent me a big bag of skittles, which made my day, though my husband was eyeing them and was very disappointed that he had to wait until I took pictures of them. They came in a really cute mug.


One of my favorite things are these handmade stitch markers. Now, secretly, I have been longing for a set of handmade stitch markers. It has been one of the reasons that I keep joining swaps. I'm sure that if I sat down and really thought about it I could have come up with stitch markers on my own, but I figured it would be easier to just keep joining swaps until I got a set. This set totally rocks! They are in purple and blue, which you might have noticed are two of my favorite colors.

Then the piece de resistance is my sock pattern. She made me a fair isle lavender sheep sock pattern! That means that I am going to have my very own Lavendersheep Socks! *happy dance* She even included this miniature sock as an example of the pattern. I am going to have to remember that for future reference. My poor pal got some very nice diagrams, but no adorable sock like this one. I hope that she can forgive me =P. Overall, I love the entire package. She really did do an excellent job of figuring out what I would like. Great job!

Coming Soon: The packages I sent out. My pal that I was sending stuff to for One Skein was Bev of Pomo Golightly, who may have a post up about her package before I post, so go check it out. I probably will have a post up soon about those packages. Also, I should have a post up about knitted objects soon. I actually have progress!

In fire news: We can smell smoke today, but I think that it is because of the wind shifting. It is also right across the Hood River from where we went camping earlier this summer, which is odd to think about. It is 10% under control, which is definately better!

Saturday, August 12, 2006

Packages and New Yarn

I feel pretty good about myself. I managed to send out both my One Skein Package for August and my KSKS package yesterday.


I decided that I would wait and show what I sent after my pals got their packages. I will show you the boxes though. Hmmm....big beautiful boxes filled with fiber goodness. I think I found some pretty awesome things for my pals too. This also means that I am swap free, at least for a little bit. I think that I will take a break for a bit. Though I will probably join the next Interweave swap, which is a spin to knit swap sometime in September.


Here are three new colorways that will be up in my etsy shop. The one on the left is a new Child's Play, which is for sale in my etsy shop. The original skein, of course, had to go to Campbell. I believe that Sarah is going to make her a shrug out of it. Sarah is also coming up with new and fascinating things to do with sock yarn which are well worth peeking at her blog. The skein in the middle I made myself and named Pansy Patch, because Pansies are my favorite flower. I think it is really cute and flowery looking. The last skein on the right was created by my husband. He wanted to get in on the sock yarn action too, so he created this colorway, which we decided to name California Poppy. He was thinking of manly colors, so I teased him that it was made for men by a man. He really has good color sense and it is always fun to see what he comes up with.

In other knitting news: Erika posted up on her blog Redshirt Knitting a link to these little guys. I think that they are really adorable and had to post it up on my blog too. I think a small army of them for Christmas would be really cute.

In other news news: there is a forest fire burning up on Mount Hood outside of Government Camp, which is about 45 miles away from us. I don't think that it is too likely that we will be evacuated or anything, but it does put a damper on camping and things, at least up on Mt. Hood. We are keeping an eye on it, though, and hope that it doesn't come too near to civilization.

Thursday, August 10, 2006

Yarn Updates and Commission

I received my first commission request using Alchemy for my shop. I've been meaning to mention it here too that I will do commissions. It may not be exactly like what I have done before, since everything I do is unique, but it will be similar or in the same spirit. I think that I might even consider handspun yarn up for commission as well. All it takes is leaving me a comment with a request and I can send you a quote. Pretty much anything you see here or in my etsy shop is up for commission as long as I can still get the materials.


This is the commissioned yarn. The commission was for a skein of Mountain Sunset Sock yarn. I think that it is pretty close to the last one I did, though maybe a tiny bit more purple. I love that each one is unique, that's what makes it fun and keeps my job interesting. Speaking of which, I finally put up Corduroy and Mulberry Bush. I dyed a couple more skeins the other day and they should be up soon as well with bright and brand new colorways.


In other yarn news, this is my latest handspun skein. I named it Mermaid. It is a little heavier than fingering and a little lighter than sport. Ideally it should be knit on a 3 or 4. It would make excellent sock yarn, since it is made from Superwash and Tencel (hence the shimmer). It is for sale at Knot Another Hat and should be up on the website soon, if it hasn't already sold. I've been having trouble lately with people buying my yarn before it is even put into the system down there. It's awesome for me, but not so awesome for my display of yarn that I am trying to keep filled.

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

One Skein & Buttons

I actually have a near finished object to show. I feel really weird having seven projects on the needles at one time. It is a bit much for me, but I am getting there. I am prioritizing and such.


This is my lovely scarf blocking in all its glory. I was originally picturing this beautifully long scarf, but it didn't turn out that way. A lady who was visiting the shop pointed out that I could make a button scarf by sewing on a nice button and it would just attach through the lace. I think this is an awesome idea so I am heading to the button store today. I'm thinking something that looks either antique brass or copper.

I also need to get caught up with the buttons I have needed to post. I won the Movie Line Contest for Pirates of the Caribbean II way back when. I just kept forgetting to post the button. Katrina of Here in Topeka hosts the contest.


The other button that I need to put up is one for Etsy. I really love having my shop there. It is a wonderful and growing community. So, if you haven't visited it already then go check it out!

Monday, August 07, 2006

Born to be a Duck

Ok, so this title only slightly references the fact that I went to University of Oregon and consider myself to be a duck. Really it is in reference to this little one:



She really loves her bath. If we turn on the sink they she runs right underneath the water and gets as wet as possible. I knew I needed to give her a bath because she kept fluffing up every time I went to water the plants next to her. Such a silly bird. So I gave her a bath and I let the water get a bit high thinking that she might not like it and let me know. Instead the silly bird just tucked her legs up a little, closed her eyes and floated around the sink. She truly is a silly bird. I never thought a dove would love water as much as she does.

Sunday, August 06, 2006

In Progress

I just seem to be busy with everything. Though, I do feel proud that I have actually gotten some progress done on my knit projects, though not as much as I would like. I have also been in a designing mood, so we shall see what fruits will come of it.

Here is the ongoing Summer Sherbet Sock. I really love the cheery colors in these socks, they will cheer me up all winter long. They are made out of lana grossa meilenweit cotton fun & stripes. I had hoped that I would get them done by the end of July so that they could be counted as Sock-A-Month, but I guess they will just have to become part of Sock A Month 2, which I have joined joyfully. See the new button:

This will be in the sidebar soon. It will probably replace the first Sock-A-Month Button.

Next up is a sock that I am making as a store model for Knot Another Hat. The pattern is from Sensational Knitted Socks and it is called Ribbed Lace. It is an 8-stitch repeat and a 24-row repeat. It is definately one that I can't memorize, but on the bright side it only takes 3 repeats to get to the heel. It also is really gorgeous and I was surprised how lacy it is. I might have to try them on when they are done to show just how lacy they are. They are made out of Opal Solids color #1264, which really brings out the complex texture.


Finally, this is a feather and fan scarf for my One Skein Pal. Since I haven't posted up the other packages, I thought that I could get away with showing my progress on this gorgeous scarf. I really love it. It is out of my handspun beaded mohair. It is actually the first time that I have ever knit with my own beaded handspun, since it usually sells really well. It's fun to knit with it myself. I just have to tuck the little beads through to the front side every so often. I also think that it will need to be blocked before it is sent off. Overall, I think that my pal will like it. I like it and I'm not even a huge fan of fall colors!

Friday, August 04, 2006

Dye Party

It has been a while since I have posted. I meant to post just as soon as we had our dye party, but instead I wanted to wait for the yarn to dry. Then yesterday I spent all day shopsitting for Sarah down at Knot Another Hat. Just think about being left for an entire day mostly by myself (it was slow) in a yarn shop. I did what any self-respecting knitter would do and rearranged a couple of the displays of yarn. Ok, so this might not be what everyone else would do, but it is what I would do. Especially since we got two new colors of New Cotton Seta in and there wasn't quite room on the shelves for them. So, I had to re-sort so that 5 colors would fit on a shelf where only 4 colors fit before. It was quite a bit of fun. Especially since the New Cotton Seta is really soft and really pretty. I need to come up with a project to make out of it for next summer =)

Ok, onto the dyeing.


This is the yarn that I dyed/overdyed that night. I overdyed the ribbon because I wanted it to be just a little darker. Since Sabrina is making a tube top, I have been thinking about making a nice little tank top for myself (I definately need straps). Now I just have until next summer to pick out a pattern that I like. The other two are sock yarn that will be up in my etsy store just as soon as I can take proper photos of them. They are named Mulberry Bush and Corderoy respectively.


There is Sarah detangling her yarn after rinsing it. She really knows how to handle her yarn =) . Look at her go!


This is Sabrina posing with her yarn. She has one lucky boyfriend, who is to be the recipient of a pair of socks from this gorgeous yarn. These are his favorite colors, but shhh it's going to be a surprise =)


Here is the lovely Miss Campbell, who graced us with her presence for the evening. She is pictured with her Lovey. She is very adorable and has been known to convince grown men that becoming a father isn't such a bad thing after all.


As an experiment I had Campbell dye her own skein of yarn. She was really interested in what we were doing and wanted to do it too. She really liked squeezing the water out of the yarn. Then she got to pick colors. I put them on for her. Then she got to squish. I really love this colorway. I have named it Childs Play. And for those of you out there that are nervous about dyeing, just think if a three year old can do it anyone can =)

Ok, that's all for now. I should have an update on my Knitted Objects very soon.