Eye Candy for Fall

I love the Bay Area. Always something to do, great yarn stores, just wish it were not 3 hours away. This weekend the three Musketeers (Carey, Nolamom and I) went up to see a quilt show in Livermore and the TKGA yarn show in Oakland.

The Alden Lane Nursery in Livermore was decked out for fall. I love the pumpkins and fall flowers. Aren't they great?

The yarn show in Oakland is much smaller than Stitches, but this year it seemed even smaller than before. We took our time, but were done looking in the market after an hour and a half. I was happy to see Terilyn Needlecraft there, I got some of their laceweight yarn at Stitches at the Bay Area Knit Coop booth at Stitches, and that was what I used to make the Mystery Stole. This time I got some pretty green silk/wool that I am leaning toward using to maybe make the Forest Path Stole. I also got some silk laceweight at another booth that was incredible. Lace seemed to be the yarn of the day.

Since we were done early, we made a detour to Bake Sale Betty's (fab bakery and Betty has very interesting electric blue hair) and Article Pract. I was just there not too long ago, but managed to see some nice stuff. I really like their selection. It is probably a good idea that I don't live closer. I did manage to restrain myself pretty well.

Now all I have to decide is what to start first. I am working on another pair of plain socks ("sock"-er practice socks) and have a Twisted Flower to finish, but I'm ready to start a big lace project. Or mittens. Or a blanket. Decisions Decisions.

Doesn't Maurice look like he's guest hosting Blue's Clues?

September Socks for School

I'm taking a complicated sock break. I'm actually cheating, since I need to finish a pair of socks in September and the Twisted Flower socks take so long I may be in danger of not finishing in time. I decided to finish up the pair of plain Koigu socks I started when I went to the Teacher retreat in August.

There is something very satisfying about plain stockinette after a run with lace and cables. Interestingly, I feel the same in reverse. I guess I crave variety.

These socks are on their way to be a silent auction item for Emily's high school auction fundraiser. Being low in self esteem, I'm terrified no one will bid on them. Not everyone understands the joy of the handknit socks from handdyed merino. Maybe I can pay Lisa or Tracy to bid on them just to save my ego. Don't you love friends?

In other news, today was the red-letter day for registering for next year's Stitches West. I was poised at the laptop at 7 am this morning and of course couldn't get through on the internet so was reduced to phoning them over and over until I finally got through at 7:26 on the cell phone on the way to school (my co-pilot Alex did the dialing). I signed up for classes from Cat Bordhi, Candace Eisner Strick, Melissa Leapman, and Lucy Neatby. Two full days of sock knitting classes, plus a half day of knitting backwards (totally cool) and a half day of knitted borders. Plus a ticket to see Vickie Howell. Plus, I got in at the good hotel this time. Total knitting heaven. I wish it were February now.

Patience is a gift from God, so is a sock to knit

Does knitting make you a more patient person? I have read all the mystical spiritual things about knitting and agree with them for the most part. When I am knitting I am happy (unless I have messed up, then I may be uttering less than happy sounds) and even thinking about yarn or my next project can transport me into a better "place." Yes, I don't count sheep, I count balls of yarn. Close enough.




Anyway, I like to always have knitting with me when I have to wait. I seek out car trips (and hate to have to be the driver) and don't mind waiting for the kids as they are shuffled about town during their activities. I am very proud of the fact I have something productive to do, no idle hands, yada yada.





However, I have noticed that when something dreadful happens like I finish my project at hand and I have nothing to do, I am more impatient than ever. To the point of wanting to strangle the person responsible for making me waste my valuable time THAT I COULD BE KNITTING. Yes, I know it is my own fault for not packing two projects with me at any given moment, however I usually shove my sock du jour in my purse and heaven help me if I try to cram even more than that in the abyss of my handbag.





Anyway, today I was waiting at the doctor's office and worked on the toe of the Twisted Flower sock. Then I got sent to the lab and got down to the final stitches, and since I didn't have my kitchener cheat sheet and needle with me, I had nothing more to knit. I looked around at the other 7 or 8 people in the room all doing absolutely nothing but staring at the ceiling and waiting and I wanted to say "People, where is your knitting?! I know my problem, but how can you just be wasting your lives away like that?"





Maybe they were praying. Maybe they noticed the woman who finished her purple sock and was sitting with them with a crazed look in her eye. Or maybe they were counting balls of yarn in their mind's eye. I'll never know.

Has it been a week already?

I'm sorry for the lack of blog entries. I'm swamped. No excuse I know, but something has had to give, and I'm not keeping my head above water very well. Love the job, but I am a busy mama!

In my spare moments (uh huh) I have been trying my best to make progress on the Twisted Flower socks. I have thrown in the towel for making the fair deadline with them. The Waving Lace socks will have to substitute. I have made progress on the TF sock, but it is slow going with the cables and twisted stitches. My new revised goal is end of September.

I did block the Mystery Stole, and persuaded Tracy to be my model. I am pleased with the results, although I probably wouldn't have made this pattern if I would have known about the asymmetrical part. I love the wing, and wish I had matching wings at each end. Ah, such is the chance the mystery presents. Oh well. I did learn a few things, and this is by far the biggest lace I have attempted. I now feel pretty confident with lace, and will come back to it again soon.

Tracy was a sport for posing. I tried to crop out as many body parts as possible, but I think she makes a fine stole model. I'll use her again. (She needs an agent to negotiate a better price next time).

Stamping humor

OK, Tracy asked for stamping humor. Here goes:

At the end of a very long life, a dedicated stamper and scrapbooker passed away.

She awakens to find a glorious craft room filled with every imaginable scrapbooking item: Papers of every color, texture and design, the latest in gadgets to make the most attractive pages ever. She finds eyelets, punches, stickers and ribbons in every color. She finds templates and scissors and ink pens of every color. The best part is it is all organized and labeled! Her work area is pristine, just waiting for her to create cards and scrapbooks for the rest of eternity!

She says to herself: Ha! See, it didn't matter that I wasn't always the most nice person and that I didn't do anything for anyone else but me! It didn't matter that I never set foot in a church and that I cheated on my taxes! Ha!

And then she realizes.... there's no adhesive.

Knitting humor

Here's a joke for you. (An old standard, but a good one.)

A highway patrolman pulled alongside a speeding car on the freeway. Glancing at the car, he was astounded to see that the blonde behind the wheel was knitting! Realizing that she was oblivious to his flashing lights and siren, the trooper cranked down his window, turned on his bullhorn and yelled, "PULL OVER!" "NO!" the blonde yelled back, "SCARF!"

Sock in Progress

I finally got going on the sock.

I'm using Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Blackberry, which corresponds nicely to the Project Spectrum colors I'm supposed to be using. I finally got with the program, yes I did!

I'm knitting the Twisted Flower sock by Cookie A., my favorite sock designer ever. This is not a speedy sock. This represents my work for the day. I have a deadline of Friday, September 14 for this sock, since fair entries are due that day. I need the knitting fairy to add some speed to the needles. I'm back to magic looping these, and I noticed that my Knitpicks Options circular #1's are not straight anymore. I know I tend to bend the wooden dpn's, but I didn't realize I was so forceful on the metal needles.

I have very little else on the needles right now, except for the few hibernating projects that I am getting close to forgetting altogether. I still need to block my mystery stole (yes it is done!!) but I'm saving that for tomorrow morning. I am wishing I had bought those blocking wires I saw at Imagiknit.

Tuesday I start teaching Arts and Crafts as an elective to the junior high. I will have around 10 kids, not all girls, so I am trying to come up with some non-sexist crafts projects for the young teen crowd. I think friendship bracelets will be a good starting place. I had actually never done the weaving kind, and it is kind of fun. I'll go to the store tomorrow and buy some appropriate beads and then will try the macrame kind. From there the class will move into paper art, with a few stolen projects from Good Things, like the paper bag book, and maybe the Altoid tin card in a box thing. That will give me a good excuse to buy and eat several tins of chocolate altoids. Yummy, however, rather dangerous eating in this weather.

Friday Funny

Odd and Ends

1. School started. Job started. Time departed.

Kids are cute--

And getting old. Alex is in junior high and Grace is in first grade. Wow.

2. My job is a lot of fun. Cuts into the knitting and blogging time, but I did actually finish a sock during football and Orthodontist waiting time (that's the other job).

I also have turned in the paperwork to enter the fair. I am entering a shawl, socks, and the chicken. I was a little disappointed that I only have three things to enter. Oh well. I still actually have to finish the socks too. I have 3 weeks. Normally very doable, but with the life crunch going on it is going to be a close call.

3. Ravelry is great. I know I have said that before, but now I have proof. I have for several months now been trying to find a copy of Simply Knitting's March issue to get the patterns for the little barnyard animals by Alan Dart who designed the knitted chicken I made. The issue has been sold out, and the only time I found it on Ebay the bidding was over $20 not including shipping from England. Well, last week I joined in a Simply Knitting fans group on Ravelry and posted on the forum that I was looking for issue. A wonderfully kind Raveler responded and mailed it to me! Without asking for anything in return! Isn't that fabulous? I plan on knitting her a sheep. Hopefully she will find that charming and not weird.

Hopefully the next post will include some mystery stole action. Stay tuned!

Vote for my friend!

So... a few months ago, I nominiated my friend, Cynthia, for a national award. I was thrilled that out of all the nominations, she was selected as a finalist for the Stand on a Better World Awards. If she wins, her organization could get a cash prize that would help her continue the great work she does. If you could, please vote for my friend Cynthia Karraker.

http://www.standonabetterworld.com/vote/index.html

Pops and Alex

Father and Grandson camp August 07 004
Originally uploaded by CareyMW

Aren't they cute?

A Dilemma

I started a new job. I'm going to be a librarian at a small private school very close to home, but of course, not anywhere near the two schools my kids attend. I'm very excited and eager to jump into the new school year.

The faculty and staff went on a retreat yesterday to the foothills around an hour and a half from school. I knew I would be riding in someone else's car, so I brought along a new plain sock to knit (didn't want to waste prime knitting time, especially now that time is at a premium). I realized I would get a few questions about what I was doing, so there lies the dilemma I was faced with:

How much of the knitting self do I expose? I don't know these people very well, and I wouldn't want to steer their impression of me from "Gee, she seems interesting" to "Oh my, what sort of nut do we have here?" Especially after the reception my sock knitting got from my cousin at Good Things. Not everyone gets it.

When the conversation turned to what I was doing I told them I like to knit. True, no? The whole truth? Huh. I didn't volunteer my blog URL for them to see for themselves. Admitting to knitting and blogging is reserved for those who know the level of my, uh, involvement with yarn. I sort of decided that I would wait and reveal the inner knitter a piece at a time.

Meanwhile, I got this far on the sock-

I'm glad I didn't let the time slip by. I'm ready to start the last clue of the mystery stole too. This week is the first week of school for 4 of 5 family members, and all with different schedules that don't blend well, so knitting time will be scarce. Wish me luck, on the job, and on the stress management of home. Yikes!

My soul is refreshed

Two weeks ago, my very good friend, future bridesmaid and co-worker lost her 17-year-old son to a horrible accident. After a week fighting for his life, Zach got to be comforted in the arms of Jesus. I have peace because of that, but I am mourning the death of this great kid. The black days after Zach's accident are a blur now. Busy at work. Worried sick about my friend. Prayer with other friends, church family and co-workers. A huge, huge outpouring of support from those co-workers.

In the midst of it all, I felt the Lord at work. He was there during it all, helping me get through each day. I learned this week that getting through each day means getting back into routine. The Good Things meeting was scheduled way before any of this happened, but after a horrible couple of weeks filled with drama, sadness and a whopper of a cold, planning the projects was the very last thing I wanted to do.


Funny thing, though. It was exactly what I needed. I don't know how, but I healed a little bit by getting my hands in ink and playing with my scissors in the days before the meeting. My soul was refreshed during the meeting just by being with Tracy, Cheri, Lori and the gang. We laughed over silly things and surrounded me love. Thanks for that. I appreciate it more than you know.

We did three projects. Here they are:




Cindy and Tracy show off their hard work.





Lori and Carolyn enjoy strawberry cheesecake squares.

No Longer Behind

I'm officially on clue 6 now! Finished clue 5 today. I like the way the wing is shaping up - very feather like and all, but I don't really care for the dividing line between the main stole and the wing. I'm hoping it will all come together. I also am very close to being at the end of the first skein of yarn, 630 yards have been used so far (give or take a few yards).

I am so tired of knitting this! I am on the cusp (so close I can taste it) of casting on for the twisted flower socks. SO CLOSE! I am using Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Blackberry. Project Spectrum! Sock a month knitalong! Summer of socks! I would feel like Tiennie except I won't finish them in one week (she's a super fast and very good knitter, go check out what she knitted for her husband)

The Everlasting Sock

Can you imagine if Willie Wonka ran a yarn factory? The yarn that never runs out no matter how much you knit. Socks that change color depending on the time of day. Sweaters that grow thicker depending on the weather.





These socks were made from Willie Wonka yarn. They seemed to last forever. I worked on them pretty steadily (in my mind anyway) yet they never seemed to be done. UNTIL TODAY!

Hooray! These socks are my first installment in the Sock of the Month Knitalong that starts in August. I sort of started them in July, but we won't talk about that little detail.

Even though these were the socks that would never end, I loved the yarn. So pretty! In fact, I will make a declaration that this is the prettiest sock yarn I have used thus far! It is called French 75, purchased at Ancient Pathways.



Love it!

Nothing at all about yarn, paper, or scissors

Maurice wants you to see what he spent his Saturday doing:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAYhfQijuU0

Meanwhile, Grace and I went with Carey and Gram and shopped, lunched, and were ladies of leisure.

Ready for a wing

Big projects do not make exciting blog posts. I have been knitting away at the mystery stole in an attempt to catch up. I have now (on Tuesday) caught up to this week's clue.

Good thing, being that the mystery has been revealed. The stole is patterned to represent "Swan Lake." That sounds so normal and not mysterious compared to the offbeat and sometimes sinister guesses that have been floating around the internet. Anyway, the design is now going to feature a wing, which sounds very odd, but I think will look very nice, although will take most everyone out of their knitting comfort zone. I am used to symmetrical designs, so this will be good for me. And it is looking very pretty on the blogs I have been cheating and looking at.

I am also enjoying ravelry! What a great place to compare others' work and see the difference yarn choices and color make. It is really like a knitting/internet revolution. That sounds very melodramatic, but it has a huge potential that is very exciting. I love it! I haven't said too much about it since it is not open to the general public yet and can't be viewed unless you are a beta user, and that is a giant bummer because it is great! I am telling everyone it is like a Myspace for knitters, but it also keeps track of projects and yarn with photos and you can view everyone else's finished objects and find lots of inspiration, and I could go on and on! It will be great when it is finally up and running. Jesse and Casey are the brains behind it and they are brilliant!

Fun site and a celebration! Hooray!

Busy, busy, busy. With all the wedding planning and a crazy busy work schedule, things haven't actually been going so well on the creativity front. I've got a great plan to do a creative scrapbook album-type thingy instead of a traditional guest book. Actually sitting down and doing it, however, may be troublesome. So, to make a long story short, I found this lovely web site and accompanying blog that celebrates the lives of real women with real schedules and discusses how real women scrap! Looks like I'm not alone on the busy front!

Here are the links.... http://www.realwomenscrap.com/index2.php and http://realwomenscrap.typepad.com/scrapbook_lessons/

And, during the month of August, the site is celebrating blogging as well. I've attached the site's blog-a-bration button so you can click and find out what it is all about. Hope you like it.

On and on and on

I swear I am knitting. I seem to go on and on and never make any progress. Oh, yeah, I know I am on row 263 and all, but it is slow going. I am behind! Tomorrow is the next post, the all-important clue that tells us the secrets to the mystery stole universe, and I didn't catch up like I intended. Big bummer. I still have another 70 rows to go.

I also feel like I need (and want) to do a small project really quickly just to finish something. Part of me wants to do that, but that would just get me even farther behind! Knit faster!

If it weren't for the laptop buying, school supply gathering, uniform obtaining, shoe shopping, class list viewing, and driving in circles across town several times a day, I would probably get more done. Why does life have to interrupt my knitting time?

Yarn Paper Scissors

Thanks to Emily the wondergirl for the blog banner and button. It only took a few bribes and/or pleading to get that done. It is very interesting that I have been trying for FOREVER to get a better banner and coordinate a photo banner with blogger but it took Emily like 2 seconds to do.

Anniversary stats -

177 posts

10 1/2 pairs of socks

17 road trips

465 comments (thank you)

2 graduations

1 blue ribbon

1 engagement

1 wedding

lots of dimples and curly hair (kid shots)

It has been an eventful year around here at YPS, and hopefully the next year will be just as blessed!

Thanks for reading!