nice weather

With weather in the 70s over the weekend much work was done outside. raking.... digging.... cleaning... lots of flowers blooming and trees budding. very exciting.

I also managed to turn the heel on the socks I'm making for my sweet husband, and he finished his pair for me (I just need to kitchner and weave in ends). I've also been spinning and spinning the pretty colors for my sock yarn. I'm almost done and ready to ply - then I'll have good pictures to share. I'm still working on another baby blanket, and of course, my lace scarf sits patiently to have a couple rows done every once in a while.

The fact that it was rainy today and is supposed to continue that way through part of the weekend should help my knitting and spinning.

Bear done

I had to stay up a little late to make sure this got finished for the baby shower today.... of course, that's my fault for not doing it any time over the past two weeks (since the blanket's been done). And just so we don't have to go back to find the matching blanket:



Comments....

Thank you Anne. I'm not sure if this adds to your KnitToyEnvy. :) I primarily use two books for all my knit toys... Debbie Bliss and the-one-that-I'm-used-for-the-pig-and-monkey-that-I-don't-remember-what-it's-called

And a thank you also to Tammy... I think the cape makes the whole monkey experience better, as he now flies to the rescue (as my daughter points out).

Monkey Appendaged

The monkey has been appendaged!


I stayed up way too late Monday night and finished the monkey, and then made the cape on Tuesday, Super Monkey has been loved for over a whole day now.


The pattern is in the same book that the pig I made was in.

And even though I should be working on a bear (or two) I was starting to feel spinning withdrawal, so...


I'm spinning my My pretty sock yarn!

Swap arrived!

Yeah, so I got my swap10 package today in the mail - YAY!!



Up closer :)



The first picture are the things marked for my birthday - the chocolate bar was kept hidden until after the girls went to bed tonight... all mine :)

The second picture has some bamboo needles and two TUFOtsies (numbers #719 and #720)

The third picture has a cool sock kit (yarn I'll have to try to dye - maybe?), a note, and a retractable tape measure (THANK YOU! I actually didn't have one that retracts yet)


As today is patriots day in massachusetts I wasn't expecting mail (I forgot that it's only a state holiday) so I was surprised and excited when it arrived. Thank you - Thank you!!! I'm working on finishing up all the sewing on my monkey before I let myself start something new... now I'll have to decide between all the projects I had planned and all the wonderful new things :) - Hopefully I'll have a picture of the finished monkey tomorrow...

Speaking of finished objects....




Yes, you maybe already saw this here, but I just recently added the zipper and button (and button band). I now consider it done, although I might wash it once more - the bag shouldn't felt further, but the button band might a bit. I like it though, it fits my phone, keys, wallet, and a sock in progress - perfect size!

As far as comments go, I won stitch markers from tammy's dulaan contest! Yay! Thank you Tammy!
And a huge thank you to the yarn geisha!


...oh yeah, I did actually start another baby blanket - and i need to work on a bear this week for a gift, so no new projects OTHER than those until I finish something

A tale of two projects

Thinking over this post for Swap10 that we've been asked to do (our favorite and/or our hideous monster project) has been interesting. I've been trying to think through all the crafting I've done - there's a lot of years of yarn there.... So I think my least favorite would be something that I finished, but immediately frogged. During college I found a pattern for a plug-in-the-numbers design your own top-down raglan. I thought this was a great idea. It probably was, but I choose to work it in two strands of woolease, knit pretty densely. It was a monster - took tons of yarn, was very boxy, and of course, could have stood on its own. Almost as soon as it was finished I started unraveling it. I used that pretty pale green woolease for many things since then and I think it's finally gone. I have no pictures of the sweater, although I will look around for anything that has the green yarn in it.

Unfortunately I also have no pictures (at the moment) for my favorite item. A couple of years ago I was trying to work through some of my small amounts of yarn. It was fall. I designed a poncho pattern for my daughter and used some of the pretty scrap. As she wore it (and now her sister wears it) I have gotten tons of compliments on it... and of course I like how it looks too! As it is lovely (cough) winter weather again here, I can't find it at the moment - I will try to find it within the next couple of days and post the picture.

A runner up to favorite is my bamboo shawl. This is also the same pattern I used to make a shawl for my older daughter (at the bottom of this post. I had spun the bamboo on my wheel and while I think I could do a better job now, it was pretty nice. It's very soft and warm, and a little unusual.

Tomorrow's post will be very picture heavy (my husband's knit picks order, my current projects, and some finishing touches to a couple of items). I'd do it tonight, but I'm just too tired....


Comments:
Robyn who said: I will see you at Webs! I'm coming!

-we will have to figure out a meeting spot or some sort!! Looking forward to it. :)


Tammy who said: ...And...Happy Birthday girl!

-Thank you for the birthday wishes! and I will make sure to have a great time listening to the yarn harlot :) hope you get to see her sometime too!