YPF-Um..er..Should I admit it Version

Geesh, I guess I really do like...um.. a certain color a leetle bit! I am admitting it...just don't give me a solid version of it..oh..wait..I have a corn version of it for a dishcloth for MIL..anyways onto the pr0n!


Sundara Sock Yarn
Brown Sugar over Buttermilk
Fingering Weight-350 yds

You know, it is a bit more brown then the other color ;)

Sundara is famous for her colors and her overdyeing process.

I love her yarns for the same reason. Very soft too! Not sure what it'll become yet...time to percolate some more.

PS - Thank you all so much for your kind thoughts, prayers, vibes, etc. Whether you left a comment or just thought about me. I so appreciate it more than you know! I still don't have any word yet, so keep on sending them. Hoping the wait isn't much longer. Have a great weekend everyone! :)

Interesting Wednesday...

Why...well continue reading :) (Warning Long post and might be a bit TMI for others but I have to share)

Here's the latest progress on Mr. Lipstickjeans. I need a few more inches and then I can start the cabling. He's been in a holding pattern for now. More on that below.


My Cedar Creeks - just finished picking up like 24 sts for the gusset decrease..um..er..you can tell I haven't done a cuff down pair in a while.

Yeah, I got one of those Emergency knitting bags from Illiane's Corner. Cristi's post has great pictures, this bag is awesome. I so could never sew anything like this or even want to. She's sold out now, but has more coming in soon...in blue and green even!

Now to a little behind the scenes goings on....the last few weeks have been pretty stressful around here. You know me..I always try to be happy and postively bubbly (ick sickening at times LOL) here but also consider this a PSA.

So, I needed to cast on a sock that explained how I felt inside but was trying not to show it.
Presenting Dave's Basketcase socks. It's been in my queue and I was planning on a different yarn. Yeah, I've been a basketcase on the inside (sorry Dave, no reflection on your pattern though, it is cool!)

but this yarn arrived, Zen Yarn Garden in Pansies, DK weight on one of those tough days, which cheered me up.. I've only got a few pattern repeats so far as I had to frog the ribbing once. Geesh, DK weight on 2's!

Well you all know I have DD graduating 8th grade tomorrow, then DS in 2 weeks, well what I didn't need to have happen was something show up on my Mammogram (hey don't forget to get yours!!!). It was not great timing, but then what is. I used to be a Mammo tech, so I know what stuff is/isn't supposed to look like. So the waiting for an appointment began and I got other opinions on my films. Knowing stuff is so not fun. Worse I think, and I would like to be oblivious to the medical world in my next life ;)

Ok, long story short, I had some microcalcifications that weren't there last year. I am at the age my Mom's breast cancer had to have started, but we'll never know as she didn't seek any medical treatment until it was already throughout her body. Needless to say, seeing them freaked me out. So Tuesday I had an appointment with a surgeon. After talking with him, I was less scared that they are cancer due to the area they were in...yes, note I said were in. I was extremely lucky (well if you want to call it that ;) to have gotten my biopsy done today. He's almost sure he got them all and now the wait begins. I should know the results by Thursday afternoon (send me good vibes :) I'm sitting here now wrapped in a huge bandage that one would wear if you didn't want anyone to know you had a chest. Not in any huge amount of pain, in fact the procedure went quite well and really didn't hurt (don't worry I won't get that TMI on you ;) now ask me how I feel tomorrow though LOL! I didn't want to do this just before the graduations, but there is no way I could have gone through the next 2 weeks not knowing anything.

Let me tell you, it is very different being on the "other" side of the fence. I never knew that everytime I would assure a patient when we were doing painful things to them helps, I sure do now and so glad I've been there to help some people. Didn't take their pain away, but let them know someone cares. I had an awesome, Doc, tech, and nurse.

It's very strange for me to share this, but I know a lot of you kinda scolded me (in a good, caring way) when hubby had his cancer and I didn't ask for good vibes, help, etc. So here I am asking for them. Only 24 hrs...guess I'll go and knit my socks now :)

Oh and if you read this far (thanks for that!) yeah, that's the reason why Mr. Lipstickjeans was put on hold. I couldn't bring myself to knit something that could...well..potentially not fit. Some may call it being a worry wort (my hubby ;) I call it, not having to frog or think the worst and the best will happen.

What a weekend!

Busy days for sure! I finally had to get the weeding done and some plants and bulbs planted.

So, 2 trips to the store for mulch and a few other accessories and here you are!


Luckily my son helped me weed this one area, it was bad, darned dandelion roots! I also divided up some of the monkey grass too.


Here's the other side that was more full of tough grass that snuck in. Lots more bulbs planted and hey, I even remembered they have an up side to them too! We'll see later this summer when some are supposed to bloom.

I replanted some lavender to the front that was lost in the back. We used to have shrubbery here, but it was dying so we dug it up. Now I'm into low maintenance and crawling plants.


Hehe..my hubby said a prayer for these plants. He calls me a plant murderer. Well, going to try and prove him wrong this year. Yeah, all those lovely ones from last year bit the dust early. :(



This area took 13 bags of mulch! Geesh! Not much weeding needed, just mulching. My yard looks so fresh and clean and now I can move onto the side beds...um..maybe next weekend...my aching muscles.. ;)


Oh, and the new siding on the chimney repair is done :)

And, back by unpopular demand, my trusty Singer. My "other" one is going in the shop for the same problem as before, won't form a stitch after a needle problem...looks like I'll finally have to break down and buy a certain metal part that may help with this problem. I have one custom order almost finished and another one to do, and I'm taking a sewing break. Partially due to my "other" machine going away, and other things going on. Wonder if they'll have it for 6 weeks this time??

YPF-The Nerdy Version

Nerds, that was me and hubby, well before we met each other. Him, pocket protector (which the man still wore when I met him!), bcg's, clothes. As for me clothes, um..hair, general not fitting in (geeky).


Yarn Nerd 1700 MHz Merino (DK)
String Theory Colorway
220 yds


So soft!! Love the silver (black here), teal, mustard and orange

Could be my new favorite combo, orange and mustard....and I don't wanna here they are kinda derived from a certain y****w color either!

Adam dyes neat colorways, I especially like the names he give them...although I have no idea what a String Theory is, but I betcha he does ;)

Not a pretty sight!!!!!

Well, the day of chimney repair has brought us this....


Peel back the siding and this is what you see....


15 years worth of damage, just percolating in there!

Worse on the right due to those stairs being there.

Remember I said the right side..um..this is the base of the firebox. Basically, this thing could have just fallen at any time. Nothing was supporting it. More pics here if you wanna look. This is a virgin fireplace. We've never used and and today I am so glad we didn't, who knows what would have happened. Hubby has hated this house from the get go, but at the time, it was what we could afford and now since we want to leave this &^%%* town someday, he doesn't want to buy another one. So we are stuck repairing this old house!

Sigh...more wood had to be bought...don't want to think of the extra cost. Guess that stimulus check that I really didn't want as we're gonna get taxed on it again will come in handy.

This is so not what I needed right now!!!

A Red One off the Needles!

Yeah! They were supposed to count for my April socks for SAM 5 but sewing (still catching up, thanks for your patience for those who are waiting) and my tilted duster kept me from finishing...yes, they are footies too, darn wished I could knit and sew in my sleep ;)

All pics small as darn it all, red is so hard to take a decent photo, even outside in the wild!
(yeah, I know the right one looks a bit wide, DD tried them on, hey when did her feet get wider and bigger than mine!!)

Cascade fixation, red
US 3's for foot, US 2's for ribbing (used 40" circ for ML)
My own pattern. (more on that below)

Here they are enjoying the freshly mowed grass. I was going to mow as hubby's been busy writing papers, but he did, and I used my weed popper and could only do 1 side of the yard...gosh..we needed to use weed/feed this year..

Looky, footies in the jungle!


Perfect size..well, I would have enjoyed the ribbing to be a bit longer but you wanna know why they aren't

Because this was all that was left! 1 skein of Cascade fixation! I didn't have any colors other than white that would even come close to matching, so I compromised.

As I mentioned above about the pattern. You see the pairs I've made in the past, they just aren't the most comfortable, I mean they work and I wear them but the toes just don't seem wide enough. So I fixed that problem. I knit them toe up this time!

My generic footie pattern:

I used Judy's Magic Cast on, as I always do for toe ups! Hey, when you find something that works, don't fix it..or something like that. ;)

CO 12 stitches (I like wider toes)
Increase to 48 sts
Knit until 2-2 1/2" from heel, ankle bone (lateral malleolus) or 7" for me or whatever works or you.
I did a short row heel and left 8 unwrapped stitches so that means I wrapped 16
Knit 10 rounds, start ribbing and knit as tall as you like or have yarn for. Bind off the way you want. I used my favorite bind off for toe-ups, sewn one.

It's really weird that I always have a ton leftover when knitting them cuff down! No wonder why the others aren't as comfy! Either that or I got yarn shortaged! :(

A tale: yeah I originally knit 15 rows after the first heel, then did the ribbing for about 1/2" and even bound off. Started to knit footie 2 sad story here. Not enough yarn so I unboundoff footie 1 and ripped back to row 10 after the SRH, then started the teeny ribbing. (note to self: next time, don't bind off (took forever!)...you can cut yarn to start 2nd one, just leave 1st one on stitch holders! duh!

I'll try them again as I've got a teeny stash of fixation and espirit, they are perfect for down here and work.

YPF-yet another green

I guess I'm on a major green kick, sadly only knitting with red right now though!


Malachite Colorway from
The YoYo
Sport weight merino yarn (Louet base!!) :)
3.9 oz / 110 g*
250 yards*
US 3-5 Needle: 5-6 stitches / inch


I love it, so soft!!! Also the fact that it's not one solid color, hey, I don't know the technical term...um..would one say semi-solidness??




Oh well, I am thinking of using it for Pearl's Diamond Socks. Stay tuned...I'm craving knitting with some green, but trying to be good and finish my red stuff!! gah!!!

I can put stuff together..

And without a lot of tools! Only pictures for instructions, very interesting construction.

My new knitting space, temporary home for now. All I need is a good light on my side of the living room.

Close up of that neat leetle table beside the chair.

Top view

Viola, dual duty as the table top, or stand alone tray, and holder of yarn, projects, etc. My friend saw it first and said, you could put your yarn/projects in here...and she doesn't knit! She knows me too well huh! Pretty cool I thought, and very retro!

A gift from my daughter she got on her 8th grade graduation trip to Myrtle Beach. I've always wanted one too!

It'll go in my new room, you know, in case someone wants to know "whose" room it is ;)

Eye-key-a Overload!

Whew, what a whirlwind weekend. A friend and I made a quick trip to the closest Ikea on Friday evening. Now I couldn't wait until the one was finished in Charlotte in 2009, plus my friend is re-doing her house, and heck, I've always thought some of the furniture there was really cool and afordable to me. Plus, I wanted to get outta town for the day! We had a pretty good trip both up and back. Only 1 small slow traffic area. Gosh, glad I wasn't leaving DC on Friday, very backed up. The way home there was like no one on 95!

So, yes, we spent all day Saturday there. It is an amazing place, one could get lost in there. We took our time, sat on chairs and sofas, checked out what would fit in the back of the truck (darn should have taken a picture of our mad packing skillz), and ate lunch there. We had to load it all ourselves..hmm they advertised helpers...but we didn't see any.

Sadly, I wanted the Expedit shelving system but it wasn't to be, there is just no room for in the my future craft/rec/son's bedroom when he visits for it. This will be his new bed, and my place to relax and knit.


So you can see a few things there...some I'll post about when they are put together and/or hung. The rest, will be in August when I occupy the room. This isn't everything, the rest is in the garage patiently waiting.

A little food came home with me.

And some plates. I've never had black plates before, and these were a great deal. Sadly, I chipped one already :(

Not much knitting or sewing accomplished on Sunday, spent it resting since I got home about 1:30 am. That'll change this evening....massive sewing going on this week!

Oh and yeah, I'm a bit excited to have the furniture ready for my new room...athough it is masking my great fear of just how much I'll miss my little man when I drop him off...in 3 months...I'll need lots of cheering up then.

YPF-The Green Version

Green...hmmm, I'm wanting things in greens (and blues) lately. Not sure why!







Wollmeise 80/20 Twin
Farn Colorway
510 yds--whew!!

I got this at The Loopy Ewe's last update of her yarns a bit ago, which went quite quickly. Most people don't like the scurrying and buying of her yarns and others that go as quick. I like a challenge...sometimes it works, most of the times it doesn't or I just don't have the $$, like any colors, or not around when yarns are posted. It's fun for me if I score. Yeah..I need a life huh ;)!

(BTW!!! Totally freaking awesome! We can now schedule posts on Blogger! Thank you Blogger people!)

WIP Wednesday-the Red Version

Don't know what it is, but I'm on a red kick lately.


Mr. Lipstickjeans - 3 more increase sections and separate sleeves and try on...hmmm hope it fits, I think it will, my swatch grew in width, not height, and I am making it 1.5" size smaller than normal so it's that negative ease thingy..I think ;) (ease stuff just confuses me...you know positive and negative, heck, I just want something to fit!)
(fyi- Lipstick Lava is the colorway, thus my nickname for it) :)

These were my April SAM 5 socks..um..er..hey Z, it's May, what's up!


Well, you see, time just ran out, (plus I wanted to finish TD) then see the top sock (which is sock 2), that wee leetle tail o'yarn, I ran out of the fixation 8 rows after the short row heel. So, I'm frogging back part of Sock 1 (bottom sock) to finish it. I knit 15 plain rows then 10 ribbing rows so I know I can make them smaller and they'll still fit.

The pattern is my own. You see in the past the 3 pairs of fixation ankle socks fit ok (have pair 1 on right now) but still a bit short in the foot/toe area. So this time I knit toe up and the difference is amazing. Can't wait to finish and knit more. Perfect for this weather here and for work. Once I fix Sock 2, I'll post my pattern. Still in awe I ran out of yarn, I never had before and even rescued someone with my leftovers. hmmm

Timing....

Is everthing sometimes!


If this were a day earlier, well I would have had to reschedule! I mean, can't miss my son's graduation can I? A big sigh of relief for sure!

Prime knitting time I say! Some people complain about the sitting around, I won't, if they let me bring my knitting inside...They may not need me, it's happened before, sit, wait, go home. Whatever, gotta do it :)

We call the day before to see if we should even report. This is my 3rd time getting "summoned" The first time I served on an accident case, the 2nd time - excused due to moving to our new hospital and we had our first big case, and since this is the 3rd time..kinda nervous you know.

Well, off I go, much sewing and knitting to do before I sleep!

YPF-The Cottons

The next few YPF's I'll be showing some cottons and cotton blends, some new to the stash and some long in the stash ;)


Colinette Banyan
Kingfisher colorway
49% cotton, 51% viscose
DK weight
112 yds



Nice colors in there!

Very soft but I think it's missing a color though...do you.... ;)



Haha, not really! I love it just the way it is!



I only have one skein...so far..to try out, it feels really nice and I bet in this hot weather would be a great summer top. See I do have more than sock yarn ;)

Thanks for your very nice and funny comments on my Tilted Duster! I really wished it was colder to wear it though! It's already too hot here for me!

YPF-The Nerdy Version

Yeah..I could have been classified a nerd in high school, but my hubby, he was the classic one, plastic pocket protector (which he still used when I met him..well not the same one), fab glasses (ha! more like bcp's) and clothes. But ok, you came here for the pr0n huh ;)


Yarn Nerd 1700 MHZ Merino (DK weight)
String Theory colorway
100% Superwash Merino Wool
220 yards / 3.2 oz



This yarn is so soft! Silver (although it looks black here, teal, mustard and orange) (sorry for the blaring picture...tried to fix it better with no luck)


This could be my new favorite color combo...orange & greeny/yellow(duh mustard)...yikes! Me...orange? I don't want to hear how both colors can be derived from y****w either now!