BPB (Birthday Picture Bonanza)

I have better pictures of some things and also some pictures of fibery birthday things, but first I'll start with mail call:



From my swap pal. I promptly ignored dishes and laundry and sat down to read the first couple of pages. Unfortunately I had to put it down to help the girls and to knit a bit. I'm planning to go see her at Webs at the end of May (already registered), so I really look forward to reading more. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!

and then...

this box sat in the corner until my husband got home. Earlier this week we put a quick order in at knitpicks. As most of the order was for him, I figured it could wait until he could open it. Pictures tomorrow perhaps.


For my birthday I got many fun things, but as far as fibery goes:


A PVC Niddy-Noddy (actually two of them), so I can put the yarn up and wash them while on the niddy-noddy.


...and my husband brought me to Critations. I picked out some brown and some white alpaca roving.

Some more birthday goodness:

basement reorganization so I can sew and we can have family unity (something for everyone to do)


the hancock fabric by my house is being closed so everything is marked down. These are for a new quilt. The one currently on our bed is getting frayed.


Beautiful fabric I couldn't resist (especially since there was only that much of it). ...and fabric for handkerchiefs.



I did finish sewing the two skirts I had previously cut out, so these are the last of the fabric for skirts for the girls. of course, I then have dress material and some material for me too.


While I was at the fabric store I picked up a zipper and button to finish off my bag. I just need to knit up a swatch with a button hole and felt it first.


Some better pictures of the items from last post.


...and finally, some Dulaan items. Most of these were knit by my mother, but I will be weaving in ends on both her items and mine, and then mailing them off sometime relatively soon. There will probably be a couple more items before mailing day, but there's 16 there tammy. :)

Just a flesh wound

Yeah, so in the great spirit of Monty Python- I'm not dead yet...

I have another nasty cold, along with various other physical ailments, but I am surviving, getting proper medical attention, and lots of sleep. I just kindof haven't been up to changing the batteries in the camera, or in blogging. Let's hope the corner has been rounded yet again.



I have finished the ripple baby blanket! Of course, I totaled up the people who are expected that I am planning to knit for and have a grand total in the side column of 4 bears (and 3 more blankets), but that's okay, because most of them are MONTHS away....


I managed to spin the wool blend from Criations (the roving that looks braided). Sorry for the bad picture - old batteries, new ones tomorrow.

It turned into a nice 3-ply, which I can't find the yardage written anywhere, so I'll have to remeasure it sometime. ...about 9 or 10 wpi. nice and soft :)


I also finished all four monkey appendages. Well, I am working on the tail still, does that qualify as an appendage? I'll just finish that up and then work on fingers, toes, face, and ummm... that might be it? No pictures yet....

AND...



...I won something!

One of the other blogs I read (one of the mommy ones rather than one of the many many crafty ones) spotlights a mom business every month and gives away a nice prize. These arrived very quickly and are SO comfy. My almost three year old has a thing for my shoes, and she's already deemed these very worthy of walking around in.

I've also got many wonderful birthday things to show off, and some more sewing done, but no pictures yet. So hopefully another post soon - with better pictures!

Camel/Wool

I decided to spin some more wool to ply with the rest of the camel...



I only have two spindles (well, three i guess... the one shown here, the spindolyn, and a one i've *borrowed* from my mother). It took about two VERY full spindles to have enough to ply with the camel, but it is now done!



Of course, I finished plying it last night just after midnight, and had to wait until this morning to measure and skein it. It's just over 300 yards, and the wpi varies from 18 to slightly over 20. It's getting washed right now, probably another picture after it's dry.

Promised Pictures

First we have my order from Leah at Yarn or a Tale, custom dyed sock fiber - superwash merino blended with 20% nylon :) I had given her very vague instructions for dyeing, and they came out great. I also like the small samples she threw in. When these get spun up I'm planning for socks, one pair for me, and one for my husband - can you guess which dye job is for which?




I have also moved along with my husband's sock. I'm in the straight knit-away part, but I'm getting close to the part where he has to try it on every couple of rows, to make sure I start the heel at the right time (maybe that's why second socks are faster for me to make, I have exact measurements in front of me in the form of the first sock).



I'm almost done with the baby blanket - sorry for the bad picture - i've actually got another stripe or two that you can't see... three more color stripes and I'll be binding off and weaving in ends!



And then we have my camel yarn. I had 1/2 lb of camel fiber to spin up and last time I tried it just wasn't working.... well, over the weekend I got the wheel going and it worked. I spun it all up, and then let it sit for a little while, trying to decide whether I should ply it with itself or wool of a lighter color, or a darker color... I had some of my all purpose white(ish) wool already spun, so I plied it with that.



I still have some camel left, so now I have to either spin up more white wool, or break yarn and ply it with something different.... we'll see.



Comment time:

My Swap10 Pal left a message suggesting different patterns in Victorian Lace Today. She also suggested:
"...have your wee ones pick a page number out of a hat or something! Good luck and keep us up-to-date with your choice."

My current favorites are: pages 68 and 32. I also love the Alpine Knit scarf that Wendy has been making. ...but every time I look through the book I find more favorites, so I don't think I'll be deciding until I actually have the yarn and needles in hand and start. (So I need to finish a couple of projects quickly now!!)

My pal also sent me a very cute April Fools Card - Thank you! :)

and Anne said:
"LOL. Something just made me chuckle at reading "done with a monkey appendage" haha. I look forward to seeing a full monkey sometime! "

Me too. It's SO easy knitting, and I think that's why it's taking me so long, as I keep falling asleep whenever I work on it. I think I have about 140 rows of 20 stitch stockinette left, and then a tail. of course, at that point it should be very quick to finish, as all the other pieces look interesting (read that as they involve shaping) and short.

etsy shop

I just spent a few minutes setting up an etsy shop for me. There are currently no items up, but that should change over the next couple of days.

There should also be another post later today, with pictures of current projects!