In case of chills...

wear alpaca!

Now it is around 97 degrees outside, so I won't be wearing this little number soon, but it will be soft and snuggly when the time comes.

Pattern: Celtic Cable Neckwarmer by Lindsay Henricks, found on ravelry. Yarn: chunky alpaca by Lassen Farms, purchased at Lambtown. I only had 110 yards, so a neckwarmer it was!

Upclose shot of the cables - the color is much more chocolatey. Mmmmm. I still need to block it and add the buttons.

Bonus shot: wet Bella!

What to do while avoiding lace

My Juno Regina stole has stalled. I did the two end parts with all the charts, and now I'm on the "straight section" that is kind of tedious because you knit and knit and you've only done three rows which equals about 1/2 inch. I need more instant gratification than that.



So, I knit socks. Plain socks. Lots of instant gratification. The latest is out of the prettiest yarn I found at Imagiknit last time I was there. Great colors!! Unfortunately, the yarn makes Noro Sock feel like merino. It is so scratchy! I'm hoping washing with conditioner helps. The first sock was NOT fun to knit even though the colors were beautiful. It just felt icky.

Pretty though.

I also bought some lovely soft chocolate alpaca at Lambtown last weekend, and I have been searching Ravelry for something appropriate to make with it. I finally decided on the Celtic Cable Neckwarmer. I have started it, but only have this blurry photo to show for it at the moment:

Sorry about that. It is hard to see cables on dark brown anyway, but imagine how lovely they are. I only have one little skein of this alpaca so I'm trying to get all the bang for my buck possible. The next photo will be great I swear!

Our Wordle

Click to make it bigger and see it better.
Try one for yourself at Wordle .

Action Jackson Part 2

Grace enjoyed art camp so much that we decided she needed more opportunities to sling paint on canvas. This time, we (okay, Mom) decided she would do a piece of artwork for the small bathroom off the kitchen.

We went to Joanns and got a 18x24 canvas and some paint in our new color scheme (chocolate, green, orange, magenta) and got to work.

First we base coated the canvas the chocolate brown color. We worked together on this part, and Grace made sure I was doing it right.

Then, once it was dry and the yard was shaded enough to prevent all artists from sweating too much, she went to work.
Mom's job was to fill up the paint plates quickly and get out of the way!!

I must say, Grace is an excellent paint slinger!
The final product turned out perfectly!! We let it dry overnight and it is now proudly hung in the bathroom with new chocolate brown towels. We need a bright new mat and a couple of new accessories, and our mini-makeover will be complete!

A bonus is that our lawn is now very colorful!

Lambtown!

I read a few months ago on Ravelry about the sheep and lamb festival called Lambtown that was going to be held in Dixon. Once I learned where Dixon is (by Davis), I thought it would be fun to make it into a family day trip.

One kid opted to stay with Gram and Carey, one kid was delighted (Grace, who loves all things lamb, but mostly the eating part), and one kid went along under protest (that kid shown below, looking very thrilled at the Starbucks in Merced).

I enjoyed seeing the fiber building the most (yarn!) although since I'm not a spinner, I was mostly wandering around taking in the fibery goodness. I did manage to take home a momento or two though. (Like there would be any doubt).

We saw alpacas and long haired sheep,

and Grace got to sample some ribs from the cook-off (notice the toothless grin)--

We saw some angora bunnies that were ultra soft -

and saw lot of people spinning lovely yarn, this one will become socks--

We saw lots of fiber--

and handspun ready to be judged--

It was a lot of fun. We had lamb for lunch (I prefer to knit lamb than eat it) and then we made our way over to Courtland and saw lots of pear trees, then to Sacramento and went to the Train Museum, then to Woodbridge for dinner. It was a busy day.

Circle time!

I think I'm knitting discloths to avoid doing my lace. Anyway, now I have a dishcloth and a little coaster with the extra. I now want one in every color. Knitting in a circle is fun!

Edited to add: This pattern is from another blogger, it is called Lacy Picot Swirl Cloth. I found it through Ravelry of course.

Good Thing the Circus Was in Town Last Week

Finished socks!!

Got new shoes!!

Aren't they awesome?! Perfect for showing off the hand knit socks. Helps the 'ole "quirky" image thing. No, I will not wear them with capris. Only with jeans in the dead of winter when wool socks make sense. I may be quirky, but I'm not crazy.

Artist at Work

Grace, after Jackson Pollack week at Art Camp:
Her instructor said they were impressed with how she "got into" her artwork:

Next week at camp is Georgia O'Keefe week. I'm curious what she is going to look like on Friday.

Truly Lovely Socks and a baby giraffe

My friend Angela dropped some of her yarn in my knitting bag on KIP day and I decided it needed to become a sock. I was looking for something easy since I'm working on lace too, so I first started the RPM sock. It wasn't working for me, it seemed much too stretchy, so I ripped back and made it into a good old standby Basic Sock Recipe. I had forgotten how satisfying it is to just knit. Although for some reason, I can't stand gussets. Odd.


Speaking of lace, I have finished both ends of the Juno Regina scarf and now need to do the long stretches of the middle part. I was actually looking forward to this, since I can then knit it when I'm out knitting with friends. Following charts requires me to be at home, with good lighting, when it is fairly tranquil around here. I say fairly, because it is rarely completely tranquil. We do what we can.



Speaking of children, Alex is now very close to being as tall as a giraffe is when it is born. Yikes! He is 13.

I had to do it too...

Here's mine:
The questions:

1. What is your first name? Carey

2. What is your favorite food? Cupcakes

3. What high school did you go to? Hoover High School

4. What is your favorite color? Green

5. Who is your celebrity crush? Josh Groban

6. Favorite drink? Iced Tea

7. Dream vacation? Venice

8. Favorite dessert? Chocolate cake

9. What you wanted to be when you grow up? Photographer

10. What do you love most in life? Jesus

11. One Word to describe you? Loved

12. Your flickr name? careymw

My Photo Meme

I have been seeing this meme around, and decided to jump in. Here is mine--

The rules:
a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into mosaic maker - I used the big huge labs one.

The questions:
1. What is your first name? Cindy
2. What is your favorite food? Rocky Road Ice Cream
3. What high school did you go to? Hoover High School
4. What is your favorite color? Purple
5. Who is your celebrity crush? Phil Collins
6. Favorite drink? Iced Tea
7. Dream vacation? Tuscany
8. Favorite dessert? Chocolate Chip Cookies
9. What you wanted to be when you grow up? Cake Decorator
10. What do you love most in life? Family
11. One Word to describe you? Quirky
12. Your flickr name? yarnpaperscissors