And the chaos begins... but first

some pictures.

This was the mason-dixon knitting buttonhole bag pattern. It was knit in a matter of hours. This is mid felt:
and the finished product! When I have more time, I'll explain hand felting in more detail. I think there is a great deal more physical effort involved then most of my readers realize:)

The giant socks are DONE! And they fit the Tall Guy!
In the meantime, I'm off to a wedding here and then flying to De-troit tomorrow for a few days. The cell phone won't be answered, and I'm really excited to have a few days to unplug.
Let's hope the Tall Guy's family finds me at least amusing. Midwesterners and New Englanders are always an interesting combination.
Sid gets sad when I travel a lot. I wish I was able to capture him hanging from the top of his cage yesterday. It was odd to say the least.

Yay for Fridays!

It's the most overcast its has been all week right now, but its sunshine in my heart. Okay, not really. But, it is Friday and I'm looking forward to a fun weekend of Wineries in Va, Yoga and other good stuff.


The Loop Ewe struck again the other day, in the middle of a bad-work afternoon. Somehow two balls of the Bamboo/Crystal Palace sock yarn are now on thier way to me. I had returned this yarn to Stitch DC some time ago, but then decided to give it another go. I love this colorway too!

In other news, the Giant Sock is nearing completion. Yes, I'm well aware that the tall guy won't be wearing hand knit wool socks again until about November, but that's okay. I'm on the cuff now, and he doesn't like "tall" socks, so this will be pretty simple.

Happy Weekend to all! This is my more calm weekend of the month. Ha. Next weekend is a wedding and meeting the parents. Wish me luck!

Progress

Progress has been slow and steady. I'm not sure why this sock is taking so long, but it is. I think its a case of SSS (second sock syndrome). I love knitting with this yarn, but I'm just like "Please End already!"
And the sweater back is making progress as well. I'm about an inch away from starting the armhole shaping. I love the color of this Karabella SO much!

The answer...

Assateague!
Winners include Liz and Lily. I'll get you prizes, don't you worry.
Runner up goes to PJ as she wasn't actually there but, felt like it would be unfair to answer.
For those interested, here's more info on the camping w/ wild horses on the beach. If I hadn't been there myself, I'm not sure I would have believed it. Think seagulls trying to steal your sandwich, but horses stealing your potato chips. That's what was happening in that picture. Its a little odd, to say the least.
In other news, I've put down the giant sock for a minute in order to concentrate on the much neglected sweater. So far, it seems to be going well. I've ripped it out three times but, I think this time I'm going to keep it going... I'll post a pic this week. I picked up a pair of Addi Turbos this weekend. The bamboo circulars were not only a size too small but, kept snagging the yarn. So, I invested. Good lord, I never thought I would wax poetics about a set of knitting needles, but these.... well, I'm a convert.

Go NH!

I have a deep love for my home state and this weeks ruling by the state lawmakers made me hop up and down and do a little dance. The Governor has said he'd sign the civil union bill so it looks like its a shoo-in.
I won't wax poetics on my socio-political beliefs, but I really do think this country needs to get used to the idea that there is more then one way to be in a strong relationship. The bible shouldn't be the only way to interpert family values...
Yay New Hampshire!In other news, I only have about an inch done on the new giant sock so, I'm not sharing. Sorry. I also ordered a skein of Lime and Violet handpainted sock yarn the other day and it just came in the mail. It is SO pretty, but the light isn't good for a picture, so I'll hold off.

I wouldn't eat this

if I were you...

Its a "Neapolitan" Hershey kiss. I don't know what possessed me to buy a bag of them for my desk.

They are supposed to be vanilla/chocolate/strawberry, but all I can taste is Strawberry Quik. Yuck!

I just started casting off the first of the giant socks today on the train. I'll post a pic when its off!

Back on track! And *LOTS* of pictures

First, I now have a new set of size one dpns. I think the advice I received was more then worth the impromptu trip to Chevy Chase just now. As I was talking about the MIA needles with the girls at Stitch DC the very large sock (hence the need for the needles) came out of my bag. I was talking to them about a design problem I was having with the ankle section and how I was going to have to pick up extra stitches to accommodate the recipients very large ankle/like area.(no, he doesn't have fat ankles, you'll get in trouble if you say that, trust me...)
"Oh just switch to size 2's." says Jess (thegirlIwanttobefriendswithwhoworksatthisstore.) Wow. How simple. And it didn't even occur to me. Yay! I've switched to ebony needles and I'm in love with them (not pictured). Bamboo, while I love for the hippy in my heart (renew-ables and all that good stuff...), tends to be a bit splitty when I use it on small sized needles.
I think I'm going to have to ask Santa or any other benefactor for a gift card to KnitPicks, so I can invest in their nickel plated hollow needles. Yum.

So, here's the detail of my Aunt's needlework. She is one of my major "craft" inspirations. You can obviously see why. I have no desire at all to do needlepoint, but good lord, the detail in it is amazing.























And... the results of the art project from last weekend!
The Tall Guy and I were both suffering from allergies and not wanting to go out in the rain. We turned to Easter Egg dye, natural coloured wool and a little bit of a mess.
So much fun!

The set up (left). You get creative when you don't have a swift.
The pre soak. (below)
Warm water and a little white vinegar. This opens the fibers so it will take the dye.







After painting the yarn with an egg dye, vinegar and warm water solution, it was all wrapped up like a yarn burrito (ala Scout on Knitty Gritty) and then we tossed them in the microwave to "set" the color.
You can see the "pre and during" cooking skeins on the far left below. Hanging on the coat hangers, are the skeins after we rinsed them out.
Call me nerdy, but it was pretty darn fun.


















Now, after it hung up in various places throughout my apartment for about two days, we were allowed to touch it and see what it looked like.
I, for one was pretty happy!
Mine was the Blue/Green/Citrus one. The Tall Guy's was the far more colourful one which looks a little circus-y, but pretty cool. We've already likened it to the Gay Pride Flag, so I'm not sure he'll wear it, if I knit it up into a hat for him. I'm thinking it may make a cute little travel/makeup bag for me, but I'm not sure what it will do when I try to felt it. As you can see my knitting is becoming more and more of an experiment and the process is sort of what I love about it.
I'm already thinking about the idea of dyeing sock yarn.

























Now, I'm going back outside to play. Spring is FINALLY here in DC.
Whew!

A sock's not a sweater

The old wives tale (for those that don't know) is that its considered bad luck to knit for a person you're hmmm.. romantically involved with, that you aren't married to. By all research I've done, it seems that it specifically lies within sweaters. Given that I call him the Tall Guy, you can imagine I won't be knitting him sweaters anytime soon.
I decided to throw caution to the old wives tale wind. The super secret project is out for display as it was handed to him, needles and all for his birthday. You see.. he deserves socks; I mean he is one of my biggest knitting cheerleaders after all, he even winds balls of yarn when bored! ... please note, that the "model" foot is mine. His foot is just a little bit larger then thak:) For the knitters out there, its Claudia's handpainted (I'm a little worried about it not being superwash, but we'll see...) in the "Buckeye" colorway. I'm hoping to only use two skeins, but on size one's its likely to be over two.




I can't believe I forgot to post about this last time. My exciting news for the week was that I learned to drive Stick (aka: Manual for some) this weekend! The Tall Guy taught me on the drive home from Easter dinner. I only stalled once and may have peeled out of an intersection twice. Otherwise, he said I was the best student he had ever had! yay!
And, finally... my electric blue socks will be done tonight, but only if I stay up past my bedtime, which is quite likely.