once in a blue moon

with my various knitting projects underway, and many more flitting through my brain, i pulled out my 'once in a blue moon jaywalkers'. i took the challenge on december 31st (the blue moon) to cast on a project to be completed by the next blue moon. i made it. in fact, i'm so far ahead of schedule, it's scary. i love this yarn. i don't think i truly appreciate it until i knit something else or put on a pair i've made with other yarn.










i wanted to have a sock project for my upcoming travels and knew that this was almost done, so i should finish it before i forgot the pattern. jaywalker is a free download from ravelry and i love it. the handpainted yarn striped in pretty ways, and the memorization of the pattern was painless. so in my true fashion i cast on another pair. i decided i needed to go back into the stash a bit, so i chose paca-peds that i got in maryland three years ago. right away i could see why i love the blue moon yarn. i might need to get some more, maybe in a lighter weight.

lamb love

sunday morning, amythefibergoddess phoned with the big news...... bertha was in labor! soon a sweet little ewe lamb arrived. tansey.

last week when i visited, we both commented that bertha was ginormous and her udder was bulging, a definite sign of twins. well, there was a second little lamb. several hours after tansey's arrival, amythemidwife had to manually assist to deliver tarragon, a ram lamb weighing in at a hefty 12 pounds. bertha will have nothing to do with him. it seems that when a significant space of time passes, first time moms can forget that they are having the baby and see the next as an interloper. so, tarragon is getting human love and has become a bottle baby. such a darling!

seeing it in action

i laughed at myself for working on a double strand chunky wool garment in april. really, does that show that i am not a seasonal knitter?

well, winter has returned and the vest was eagerly taken out for a test wear. had it on yesterday at the guild meeting and again today for a birthday party. here it is in action....


i may need another!

it's best to read to the end

when i got this pattern i was captivated with how easy it looked. chunky yarn, held together, big needles, no sweat! well, i've been doing a lot of sweating. remember how challenged i was just getting the fronts done? then the seaming, while not taxing was time consuming. my hands ached from those 'big needles' and i just wanted this done. the weather turned hot (not warm, but hot.... remember.... chunky yarn? two strands?) then i couldn't find a size L crochet hook. got a K instead. saw size of yarn. kept shopping for the L. found the L.... it's ginormous! you could seriously do damage with this hook. so, back to the K. and here i was this morning.

i searched crochet instructions online, and yes, i was actually doing it correctly. but it was tedious. seriously. so i left it on the counter and every time i walked past, i'd do a bit more until finally, this

done. done. done! i chose not to put in buttonholes (see above, couldn't tell left front from right front) and added an extra button (sold in packs of two.... what would i do with another toggle button?)

hopefully i'll get some wear in before the temperatures rise again!

remeadial knitting

some times, you just need to go back to basics. i can't really say the beginning as my 'formal' knitting instruction was, well..... i didn't get any. i was fortunate to be mentored on several projects and whenever i found something (or got lead into something) i usually just jumped.

which brings me to the february lady sweater. i wasn't enchanted when i read about this project. couldn't see it working into my wardrobe or taste. however, when i saw it in person that changed. i asked several different wearers what they had on, and each time they told me i was in disbelief. how could this look so good on so many body types? well, i had a batch of handspun sitting around that was just enough yardage to complete the sweater. on i cast and i was rather industrious with it until i started to run into trouble. i kept gaining stitched, every row, no matter what i did. i would rip back, i would just knit a couple together, i stewed and smoldered, finally i was done. done. ready to chuck the entire mess. i didn't.

in the sunny light of day, i pulled the needles out of 154 stitches of wool/mohair blend and ripped, ripped, ripped back. i then counted out the gull-lace pattern and put markers in each section (that would be twenty) and knit a row. my hope is that with all those markers in place, i will not get lost. that's the plan and i'm sticking to it.

in other knitting, here is the gator bag. fabulous kit that just arrived from morehouse merinos. i've completed the head and now furiously working on the lining. this will be a felted bag and i can't wait to see how the recipient looks with it!

patience...

it is not always easy, especially in fibery terms. i have had a bee in my bonnet ever since i first saw the dream in color ~ rocketry baby sweater. the yarn harlot did both the rocketry (boy) and tulip (girl) versions and i wanted, no, needed to do them! i kept looking at the patterns, realizing that the financial investment in the yarn was, well, not in my budget. so i waited. and waited.

then there was the family announcement of an impending arrival. again i waited...... i'll admit wishing for a girl (how sweet would that tulip be)

well, it was a little laddie. so now there are three small boys and no excuse not to make the sweaters. so when the dream-in-color classy went on sale at 'the dizzy sheep'... i was all over it. here are the colors that i chose. a nice variety of colors similar to those pictured, but with my own unique tweak. i plan on combining the two patterns (of course i need to make it a challenge) and need to make size decisions. just in time, my needles are bare!

happy easter

the bunny was here early this morning....hopping about the back yard depositing eggs filled with yummies. when the egg gatherers headed out with baskets in hand, daddy bunny spotted this rogue egg. knowing that it was not in its original spot, he went to investigate. it would appear that we had other creatures joining in our egg hunt. the contents were intact, but this egg was toast!!
the days here have been summer-like which has made my early spring knitting seem silly. i was able to finish the jester hat while doing some surgical waiting time. where else can you get four uninterrupted hours of knitting?
this yarn is stellar! morehouse merio 3 strand varigated, it's beyond soft, and works up beautifully. my only concern was that the hank was short. the directions told me i could complete the hat with one hank, and i ran short with one tip to go. luckily i had a coordinating color, so it made a great design element. fits perfectly and will be great when that snow flies again.









i decided i needed to get swatching when amythefibergoddess informed me she was working on my fair-isle yarn. the color striations in this yarn are fabulous. i'm aiming for wearable completion in autumn. you know i love a deadline!