Well, hello there!

There has been some knitting, you'll see that in a day or so.. :)

Some sewing...

Needle case is a custom order, box bag a gift. Fabric is Orla Kiely's Abacus, which is soooo hard to find. This fabric is really a tablecloth I got from Ebay.

Some spinning ...

1/2 braid of superwash merino, more details later as this is a belated Christmas gift...cripes...it'll be her birthday soon I think LOL!

Also busy moving my current knitting/spinning stuff to other parts of the house. Why? Well college guy will be home from his 2nd year tonite :) Gotta have a place for him to sleep don't I? He'll be home for a few weeks, out to sea for 60 days, then home for a week or two until his junior year starts.

Hubby will be spending 6 weeks in Arizona on a work detail....lucky him, his sister is only about 5 hrs away, maybe she'll take pity on him and visit. As for me and the girl...we'll be hanging out, working out, and just enjoying the peace ;)

Wip's and Winners!

Well it is Wednesday, update time for the Wip's I'm gonna confess about...(shhh...don't tell the other ones I'm not giving them any glory right now ok! ;)

6 rows and bind off away from my Waterlilies Outta the Pool sock 1...


Taiyo sweater is coming along, not as fast as I want, but one can only knit with this yarn for a little while. Most likely 4-5" and then ribbing to go..we'll see. Trying to embrace the Noro striping whatever the way it wants to.

This is great purse knitting...um...no my purse isn't that big LOL! This has it's own purse, but it is perfect for mindless and knitting around others...

This one however, right now is only hometime knitting....you see that middle cabled section...yeah, that's why. You are doing something on both the knit and purl side, whew, and some of them stitches are a doozy. But I love it!

Creature Comforts Cardi (sorry only on Ravelry) by Madelinetosh It's called a cardi, but no buttons and is more like a shrug...you'll see later ;)

Yarn is Dream in Color, Cloud Jungle colorway. I've been collecting this yarn for a while. A destash here and there and the last couple of skeins on sale from Woolgirl (sadly closed). Because of this, I am knitting from 2 skeins (2 rows each skein). I didn't on my Mr. Lipstickjeans and I wished I had...I thought it would be a pain, but not so. Another reason it's not so portable.

Oh and I know you're all gonna ask about my yarn bowls. Souviners from the 2 SAFF trips.
Left is from Potterknitter and right one is from Knit Witch.

Don't let me forget the Winners!! Thank you to everyone who left a comment, and for visiting the Knitcircus site where I hope you've found something that catches your eye!

Knitcircus Subscription Winners are:

Sandra and Stariel!

The following 3 have won a copy of the Spring 2010 Pattern Collection:

Rosebelleknits
Knit/purl mama
Dianamican

Ladies, please Email Me so I can forward your email addresses to Jaala.

E-zines...

When I first heard someone mention an E-zine, I had no clue what it was. In today's high tech world I should have known, you know the E giving it away ;) There are a few out there, but the newest to me is Knitcircus Magazine. This magazine not only has knitting and food (well cookies ;) it has a Sewing project too!

Yeah, my 2 favorite things...well the sewing doesn't happen as much, you know due to the knitting taking over ;) Oh, can't forget the cookies either!

Now instead of a hard copy knitting magazine (that piles up in your house, or you misplace it...shhh...I know you all have done that!) you can view it online (save a few trees!!) read some really good articles and interviews and buy the entire collection of patterns for the current issue at a really low price. A year's subscription of all 4 issues/patterns isn't too bad either! It takes up much less space on a computer than collecting dust on your shelf. (but don't forget to save it from your computer too, however you do your backups). How easy is that! Oh and if you want some of their back print issues, check it out here!

Here are some highlights from their Spring 2010 Collection. What is really neat for me, I recognize the name of some of the designers, one of who has knit socks for me! :) This edition also has some good spinning advice, which I plan on keeping close by so I can tell my fiber/roving just what to do! ;)

Bezzie knit this and she contributes her spin on cookies in each issue.

Isn't this baby too adorable! What a cute dress!


Look a shawl, oh, I mean a stole ;) Yeah, I've been collecting these type of patterns lately.

But guess what! I'm going to have a contest. Jaala has donated 2 Pattern Collection Subscriptions for the year (that's all 4 issues!), and a few of the Spring Pattern Collections.

I'll make it easy for you! Just post a comment here before Tuesday, April 20th at 9pm. (why the 20th...well my son is 20, and he'll be home 10 days from that date....sentimental I know ;) Let me know what article/pattern you like from this current issue. The good old random number generator will let me know the winners! Check back here or include your email address in your comment in case you win. I'll forward those to Jaala, and she'll get you all set with your subscriptions.

I haven't decided what I want to knit from here yet, gosh I wished I knew someone with a wee girl! I want to knit that little dress!

Potholder Swap 2010

When last you saw some crochet here, it was when I said good-bye to my babies. My first potholders ever crocheted.

Lucky me got my 5 back already!!

They are awesome!



Now for the backsides ;)


Oh and now their close up's













This was a lot of fun...well once I sent mine off LOL! It actually has me looking at purchasing a crochet book so I can learn some of these cool stitches/patterns for next year...

psst! If you want to check out more of the awesome potholders made, look here!

Well it's Wednesday....

Some progress made on my sweater I showed you last week, but not enough to photo it. Almost at the sleeve separation and almost done the 2nd out of 5 total skeins. The rows are getting longer!!

I did cast on a new sock for the month though...For the Ravelry Socks that Rawk Quarterly KAL and of course SAM 9.

Everyone Outta the Pool by Artsygal. When I read the title of the socks, I wondered what they had to do with a pool. Um...duh! It means stopping the pooling of varigated yarns! Socks that Rock multicolors are often very pooling depending on the pattern and your needle/gauge. I like this pattern, so far just a few minor tinking due to not paying attention...um..really not counting right...sigh. ETA: Colorway is Waterlilies


The biggest WIP around these parts this week is...

holes in the wall! 2 out of 3 of them.

(hmmm I seem to like blue walls huh?)

Our house is 20 yrs old. When built, the contractors used a cheaper piping that was the "thing" at the time. Yeah...wonder why there was a lawsuit for it. (FYI PCB-aka Quest piping) Of course we had no problems when the time to claim was open. Now 3 pipe bursts, and a new water heater later (over the last couple of years) this years tax return is used for the entire replumbing of the house. Hubby says it went well, but these holes needed to happen to ensure all old piping was replaced. So...guess who gets to spend Friday at home while the drywall guy fixes these...well at least I wasn't stuck at home on Tuesday, with no working water or bathroom ;)

Sure hoping this is the last major house repair for a while, over the last 5 yrs we've gotten new windows/doors, new floors in half the house, new heat pump, and water heater...now plumbing.
Guess what we get to do this weekend? Make a new gate for the fence and prepare for the great clean out of the garage, happening in 2 weeks...on a better note though, College guy comes home the end of this month for a bit, until his summer co-op starts...I have no idea why we can't wait to clean the garage out when he comes home though...hmmm...
Gah! ETA: the great fireplace debacle!!! How could I forget that!
Oh and 90 degree weather in early April...bites!! Send me some rain too please...too much pollen!