The Sinister Scribe

… and off the needles.

Not my best attempt but after two years I’m doing to call it a victory because they’re DONE!!!

Still knitting on these Never Ending Socks Of Blue. But I can feel the end is getting close. Maybe it is my excitement that is makeing the rounds go faster. LOL! I mean I’m adding stitches… but it is going faster. Man! I can’t wait to wear these. They are sooooooo comfy!

So far, I’ve done 5 increase rows and I think I’ll need to do 3 or 4 more before FINALLY getting to the ribbing. I’m into the 3rd skein now and alternate doing 10 rounds plus an increase round on one sock then the other. Hmmm… wonder if I can get these done by sock wars…?

Usually, I don’t do knitting swatches. Life’s too short sez I. But for this yarn I really want to make sure I get the pattern and stitch just right. First was just plain ol stockingette, nice but I wanted some texture. So then I tried a bamboo stitch (new one for me), pretty but maybe too much texture. This picture is my third swatch! And is from The Yarn Harlot’s One-Row Scarf.

The yarn is some of my most recent handspun and I (for once) am happy with how it came out. I drafted it so that there are long stretches of as-solid-as-possible color and then Navajo plied it to get gradual fades from one color to the next.

Now that I’m looking at all three swatches, I am (groan) leaning towards plain old stockingette. I like the longer color bands and that you can see the blends so well. But a stockingette scarf? Meh. In any case, I’ve knitted all I’ve spun up and can’t do much until I spin more.

The end result I’m going for is a neck-tube scarf that folds over in front, like this. But the color bands just weren’t long enough to go around and around.

Just a quickie note on an FO for Jessie’s upcoming birthday. I still have the bunny to finish and a bag to make to hold them. Crunch time!

I’m pretty pleased with the way this on turned out. The arm and leg placement is better this time. Though I’m still not completely happy with the ear placement.

The pattern can be found here and it is FREE! The designer also makes a sweater pattern for it. LOL! Almost bought it for this birthday, but it will have to wait.

The white yarn is Baby Bee Pitter Patter and so far one ball has made 3 bunnies and 2 lambies with enough left over for probably another bunny or two. Perhaps I’ll make those up and just keep them on hand. The darker yarn is Regia stretch color and though it is a bit small for the needles I used, I like the size in relation to the pitter patter. Makes the white fluff look like it falls on top of the darker “skin.”

Wow! You’d have thought today was spring. Nearly seventy degree temps, thunder storms, tornado watches.

We hit the park before lunch and had a great time. Sam had a gaggle of kiddos chasing him. I unfortunately forgot my camera or I would have some really funny shots to show you.  Met two new homeschooling moms and their kids. Even saw Peanut and her (now bigger) family. She has a 3 week old baby sister.

Between the extended park time and the tornado watch, not much schooling was done today. Was kind of bummed that we didn’t get to the first of our new art lessons from Drawing with Children. We’re both looking forward to those.

I did make my first loaves of classic sourdough. Mmmmmmm! I’ll post a pic later but it is really good and sour. It sponged overnight and then proofed most of the day. There’s a mixture of flours in it… bread, plain white and gram. LOL! Using what I had on hand. Didn’t do the big monthly grocery shopping this month so my grocery brain is off kilter. Guess I should make a weekly “just basics” list for times like this.

Not feeling to perky tonight. Bob took the kids this evening so I could rest. I laid down after dinner and suddenly it was bath time. LOL! Down side is I’ve got english muffins to finish before bed. Upside is I’m still tired enough to sleep.

Later! Oh wait! Sunday had a bunch of folks over from the local knitting/fiber group. It as a post holiday get together. We had great munchies and the shortest white elephant exchange I think every. No one wanted to give up what they got. LOL! So we had a second round and I was the only one who “stole.” So now I have a skein of (gasp!) lace weight wool yarn. That means… I’ve got to knit something in lace. Oy!

I did not get pictures of the contents of the “fibery bag of goodness” though. But it was completely stuffed with a bunch of novelty eyelash type yarns. I’ve discovered I just don’t like to knit with them!

I sometimes (ok… rarely) wonder IF I had a tattoo, what would it look like?

Hat tip to Tove for finding this!

Maybe a monotone nalbinding inspired motif…?

Just sewed up this bag for tomorrow’s knitting group get together. You can see the side view here. The top and bottom seams are ninety degrees apart. Kinda neat!

We’re having a ‘white elephant’ type of exchange. This bag is stuffed with fibery goodness. I have to admit I’m having separation anxiety already. LOL! It was quite hard to choose which of my fiber-babies should go.  Can’t show ya the contents yet though. Just in case. You never know who’s looking.

The instructions for a similar bag can be found here. This one isn’t quilted, but it is lined. It is a fun and quick bag to make. I was thinking I could make little ones to stuff with goodies as favors for Jessie’s party… maybe. Maybe not. Don’t have enough zippers. Maybe just for her gifts. Which I realized today that I’m out of fiberfill. I’m knitting another bunny and lamby. She asked for them specifically

I’m off too bed now. Gotta get up early and get ready. The gathering of fibery-ones is here!

Time seems to have sped up since Thanksgiving so briefly, before I run and jump into bed, here’s what I’ve been up to:

1. julienned my thumb with the new mandolin slicer thingy
2. cat nearly died (foam-rubber addiction)
3. fiber order arrived from Spinning Bunny
4. decided to finally knit the bald dog a sweater
5. put Sam on the hook for his electronic time (meet the min daily educational hours or no doing)
6. Saf yeast arrived… can’t wait to bake with it
7. finally got my Ravelry invite

The last one would explain the time warp. Holey moley I could get lost in there! Organizing stash, projects, queue those in the wings, find groups of similar knitters, find more patterns to put in the queue. Oy vey! This is a very bad thing. Very bad.

I would show you some pictures of doggies sweater and fibery bits… but I can’t find the camera cable. It was just here earlier today. So you just get a pic of some gorgeous red fall foliage. (the yarn I’m spinning now is kinda that color, maybe darker)

So I leave you with this great article at Utah’s Daily Herald on homeschooling kids in college. The girl mentioned in the opening is 14. Sam is 10. Ohhhhhh, I need to go lay down now.

G’Nite!

PS. Baroness Boo, I WILL call you! No, really!

Remember the alpaca roving I spun up only 10 days ago…? Well, here it is all knitted up into a cap for my WDH.

Yes, that is a smattering of snow you see! Amazing to think we were outside playing in the nearly 60 degree weather just the other day.

In an effort to preserve what semblance of sanity I have, I took a fiber break. I not only bought (at the CWSG Exhibition and Sale), but spun (and am now knitting with) some lucious, grey alpaca fiber. Woot! Here’s a close up shot of the yarn. It is soooo soft!  I’m going to attempt to knit my WDH a simple cap knit top-down like this pattern but with a twisted rib like this pattern. I hope I have enough yarn! I estimated that I spun up 67 yards (4 ounces)  and I’m using #11 needles.

Also in this picture are the never-ending-socks-of-blue. The leg portion is almost as long as the foot now. I so wanna just rib ‘em off and be done. But knee-high, hand-knitted socks would be just oh-so decadent.