Knitting Pictures

The sun is out so I did a photo shoot of the dog with my sock in progress. His winker was in all of the pictures. Don't you hate those male dogs? (not really, he can't help it, that's what I get for telling him to SIT!) This is the only one I could crop for this family friendly blog.


I have also cast on for a new project - the Victorian Shoulderette by Sivia Harding. I have knit this shawl before in handspun, this time I am using Brooks Farm Four Play, a wonderful silk/merino blend which is one of my all time favorite yarns.


I also took the opportunity to snap a shoot of DD in her new cardigan. DD is always up for a good photo shoot, and this time the theme was "where's my button?"






No pressure :-)

The arrival of Autumn

Fall arrived early in the Pacific NorthWet, and along with it came a cold. The entr fably hab been sik and now I thin I got it toooo. Achhoo!

It's been rainy and cold, as you have probably read about on other PNW blogs. The sun peeked its pretty head out for 5 minutes this afternoon, and DH was kind enough to snap a few pics of some FO's. He's never one to turn down a photo opportunity.

Here's a better picture of the Victorian Shoulderette, previously featured here. This shoulderette pattern by Sivia Harding is knit with yarn I spun from a roving purchased from the Artful Ewe.


Next up is a mistake rib stitch scarf knit from a singles yarn from Peru. Doesn't it look like reptile skin?


A birthday gift for my SIL is modeled by DD. The scarf is a free pattern on the web, and the head scarf is Calorimetry from knitty. I hope she likes it!


Finally, Ene's scarf from Scarf Style, more like a shawl, knit in the yarn called for, Blackberry Ridge laceweight.

The Month of August

Whew - what a whirlwind! The month of August just flew by. Here are a couple pictures to show the events. You can also view Mom's blog to see more about what we did when she visited us in Seattle.

The month started with a very cold birthday party:


Then there was the intro to T-Ball:


And some fires that needed putting out:


Evidently some knitting was accomplished in between the TBall and the cold swimming:



Then there was the trip to Sweden which warrants it's own blog post. Suffice it to say that we met Pippi Longstocking:


And her horse:


And some wild cats:




And then finally, the day all parents have been waiting for since about mid-July - the first day back to school:



WooHoo!

Summer in Seattle

Blink and you will miss it.


The Shetland Triangle shawl, in it's unblocked glory.

I am waiting for my blocking kit from knitpicks to arrive.

MSW - the recovery

You may have noticed that I did not post about MSW - Day 3 (Sunday). As it turns out, I left my camera back in WA and was using Mom and Sheila's cameras. Since they need their own blog fodder, I decided to wait until I got home to post about day 3.

Day 3 started off a little quieter. Everyone knew their setup jobs, so we did not need to arrive as early as Saturday. When we got there, the barn doors were locked, so we would not have been able to set up early anyway. Once the doors opened, we quickly set up and started showing the product. I expected the crowd to be small, but it was amazingly steady and busy all day. So busy that I did not recognize some friends that stopped by. This makes me sad to find out after the fact.

I did break away from the "work" a few times during the day on Sunday. Mostly I was too tired to focus on additional shopping. I walked through all the barns a second time, but the only addition to my stash was a pound of alpaca/wool from the Barefoot Spinner.

Now, what you have all been waiting for, on to the goodies:

A wood hat/vase/thingamajig that Sheila gifted to me. So silly! Progress on the Shetland Traingle shawl, mostly knit on the flights home, and a new set of glass knitting needles in Brilliant Blue, size 7. Also notice the glass stitch markers, purchased from Sheila, but made by my good friend Barb.


A close up of the shawl, along with another set of glass knitting needles in the Spring Luster colorway, size 6. These are the most perfect lace knitting needles. The joins are just about perfect, the yarn slips right over the join and up onto the needles, making these the best needles for lace knitting.



The big picture. The roving in front, from left to right: 1 pound Blueberry wool/mohair blend from Persimmon Tree Farm, purchased by Mom with the promise that I will spin it for her to knit with. Half pound Lichen from Tintagel Farm, wool/mohair blend. One pound yellow/red alpaca/merino blend from The Barefoot Spinner. Moving up the table, the pink bag is from the souvenir stand - it is backpack style. Not shown is a pink hooded cardigan with the MSW logo for me, 3 kids sweatshirts, and a series of gifts for friends that I cannot disclose just yet.


Close up of two skeins of wool/mohair yarn (dark blue and brown) from Persimmon Tree Farm - destined to be a scarf and hat. Two skeins of wool/mohair blend from Tintagel Farm, destined to be another scarf. And a close up of the wood thing!


Gorgeous glass buttons from the Ernst duo. The set of smaller buttons is made from a glass called unobtainium. I know this, because the same buttons were unobtainable at Stitches West - they all sold out!

I had a lovely, quiet day on Monday, sitting around my childhood home, catching up with Mom, Sheila and Michael. I left for the airport around 4pm and arrived home in Seattle at 11:30pm (which is actually 2:30am). Back to work the next morning, early to bed that evening. My body is almost back on schedule now.

Tuesday morning I had to be at my best right away as there were tea parties to attend! The kids put on a little show and serve tea to their mother's every year at preschool. Here are my two little chickadees.



You can see that DD dressed up right away in her W&S finery complete with lamb ears. What a good girl she is!

All work and no play

makes jen cranky. I am so looking forward to having a long weekend to spend with friends and family. And wool, sheep, yarn, beads...what more could a girl want?

I've been afflicted with startitis.

Specs:
Krista Tee from White Lies Designs, in Webs' Goshen yarn, a cotton/modal/silk blend new to them this year. Pattern and yarn purchased at Stitches West this year.


Specs:
Evelyn Clark's Shetland Triangle from Wrap Style, in handpainted Sylph fine fingering weight yarn, 100% superwash, color "Spring is here!" from Spritely Goods. Aren't the colors lovely?

Blankie

I finally finished a blanket for my DD. I used 5 skeins of Paton's Classic Merino in the Regency colorway. DD loves it!



I washed it by hand in the kitchen sink, and squeezed out the excess water as best I could. It still took 3 days to dry. It was not as warm outside as the photo makes you think. I did bring the blanket in overnight. The owl is there to keep any little birdies away from the blanket. The strategy worked, as the blanket did not have as much as a dog hair on it once dry.

Thanks for all of the comments on my "Fudge" moment. And yes, fudge was not the word that I screamed inside my head. I have young children, so I am getting pretty good at screaming inside my head. To answer Kathryn's question, yes, it is (was) a Crystal Palace needle. It is no where near new, though. I am going to research their replacement policy, if there is one.

In response to LisaK's question, that is the Wool Peddler's shawl (oh, how I love this pattern!) in Lisa Souza's Black/Purple Baby Alpaca/Silk. It is destined to be a gift, but not until August so I should be able to finish by then.