Even the crankiest can't avoid it

The actual message of this cartoon has nothing to do with yarn, obviously. But look what ol' Crankshaft is doing!

MDSW

Lovely, overwhelming, beautiful, inspiring.
I enjoyed MDSW more than ever this year. Every year just seems to get better. You'd think winning a ribbon and taking a class with Judith Mackenzie McCuin last year would have cinched it as "BEST YEAR EVER" but no. I think it's because MDSW is very much about just being there and experiencing the whole idea, so that the specific details of the years don't really define it for me. Although speaking of specifics, I will say that it was terribly sad not to have the third member of the trio there...

The purchases were perfect this year I must say. I went with specific wants, got everything I hoped for exactly, didn't spend more than my budget, and never once felt completely overwhelmed to do something foolish (although I did seriously start to take that gorgeous, huge, $90 corriedale fleece out of the fleece sale, yeah that was a bit close). I did buy some fiber, but only things I really wanted and that I know exactly what I want to do with. I'm mostly struck by how different the three fiber purchases are. The first is a wildly orange/red cormo roving which is really not conveyed in the photo although I'm getting better with the color thing. The next is a lovely rare breed called Manx Loghtan mixed with angora -so soft, calm and yummy. The last is a classy little lilac tencel/merino top which feels it a bit beneath her dignity to be seen with that rather common cormo.





The most exciting thing was getting a drop spindle. I don't know if it's an especially good one, but it was funny how quickly I became incredibly attached to it, defending it from the smug looks the splashy Golding spindles gave it. I can spin on it so I guess as a new spindler that's all that really matters. The most surprising thing is that I wasn't really prepared for how satisfying it is. I love the thought that I'm connecting to the earliest spinners, the ones that pre-date man's telling of our spinning story, the spinners that began the story.


Perhaps the most triumphant aspect though is that I was thinking about a bobbin winder. "Thinking" because this would truly be a luxury purchase, not something I need and that I will only use occasionally. Of course, the one I liked best at the festival was also the most expensive and by expensive I'm talkin' the corriedale fleece and substantial change! So I left it there...and then came home and won an ebay auction last night for the very same winder for HALF the price, HALF!! My first ever ebay auction and not only did I win it, I won it even though someone tried to snipe me right in the last two minutes. Very exciting and did I mention I got it for HALF the price of the one at sheep and wool. Of course the seller hasn't contacted me yet and it will probably arrive with some problem, but the picture looks good and the seller had great recommendations! I'll let you know if it ever finds it's way from Sweden!!



And to top it all off, I finished my socks from my own handspun last night waiting on the auction, probably the best handspun/knitting project to date. I love them...and so does Max.

cast on and on and on

So in addition to all having the exact same lunch order, Abby and I also bought the same book AND both started a new project from the book immediately!



But for me this was merely the continuation of my new found cast-on rampage. It all started...

Once again, the lure of the homespun calls me and I can not refuse!!


So the little black socks are left in the dust but it doesn't stop there. I also started a "reknit" project. (Did you really think the ripping would stop? But I did decide to spare you the carnage of the ripped yarn and just show the rebirth. This was that little tank top from two summers ago. You probably don't remember it because I rarely wore it! Much too big for me.)


AND cast on a surprise project that will not be revealed at this stage (since actually the appropriate term is really "potential project" not so much a surprise. In fact the surprise will be if it ever becomes a real project!!)

Reunited and it feels soooo good!

What a great day! It's been several months (almost a year!) since we've all been together and we've had an addition since then. It was awesome to be together again and to meet Ellery! I held her and she didn't cry, that makes her good in my book (she was good before, but she's really cemented in there now). Had a great lunch and then hpped into Vulcan's Rest where I bought:

Yeah, I've been fasting for a while so I went a little crazy. The book is fabulous, I want to make a good number of the things within. The yarn I bought is cotton, made in Chile. I'm making a tube top from the book (don't worry..I'll put straps on it). Also got some pretty stitch markers because they make knitting just a little more fancy.

Are bluebonnets a fiber?

I mean, they're the state flower and all...

Actually I can work a little craft talk in here. We have a lot of blankets for Ellery. And most of them are ones that special people made. We try to rotate them out frequently but really there are many more than we can ever use. The one she is sitting on in this picture (see! a connection! yay for me!) is actually a sheet. My sister's best friend that goes with us every July 4th made it out of really light material. I never realized how handy it would be. Babies do not need heavy blankets every minute. I mean, here we are in Texas springtime. Carting around a bulky blanket in her bag is useless but this lightweight one takes up no room and still serves the purpose of something for her to sit on, cover up for nursing, wrap her for a nap in the stroller, etc. These are the things you don't know until you actually have a baby.



In other news, I had decided to make my sister's new baby due in August a hat like Ellery's. I was planning on this because 1) see above note on blankets 2) it was fun to knit and 3) it doesn't take a long time. Then I got an email from my sister that said

message from the new baby: Aunt Brandy, will you please knit me a BLUE blanket?

Now this was actually my sister's way of telling me she is having a boy! (Another one! They will be almost exactly two years apart. Start praying for her now.) But of course the note also made me wonder if maybe she wants a blanket. Then, when I was in Texas last week she told me how she puts the one I made Magnus in his crib every night.

So I'll be looking for a quick blanket pattern I think.

happiness

The excuse for getting to post this here is that I made the little white sweater Pierce is wearing, but the real reason is that I've never seen my brother happier. never.

The Yarn Harlot came, and I missed her.

It was a sad story, let me tell you. She was in Pittsburgh AND Cleveland while I was at home and I failed to see her in either place because I was too busy. Shame on me. I did get some knitting done while at home though:
Sheldon Deux. A friend from elementary/middle/high school is having a baby soon so I whipped up a little turtle. You were right Brandy, I:turtle::Jen:sheep. Eat that, SATs. The baby should be coming soon, it's supposed to be a boy and his parents are very nervous/excited/sick of being pregnant. It's their first.
I meant to email you guys a family update but never got around to it so here's something brief: Mom is coming home from rehab today (!) and will be home until she is cleared to put more weight on her pelvis. When that happens, she might go back to the rehab center or she might get to stay home. Everyone else is doing fine, especially me since (thanks to you guys and the church) I don't have to worry about how to pay for all my travel I've been doing lately.
I'm coming down to Bmore for alumni weekend (April 20-22) and will be at church that Sunday.

The Yarn Harlot is Coming

Here!

To Denver!

....But I won't be here. We're flying to Houston Thursday morning, then driving to San Antonio. Then driving back to Houston on Saturday. Caleb flies back on Sunday and I fly back (by myself with Ellery) on Thursday.

I hope to give you more details on the belt this week. I want to scan in the picture of the pattern for you. Not making promises though.

Spring Break (and other forces of nature)

So this is how our Spring Break started...or rather didn't start. We decided to delay departure for a day because while Baltimore was getting two inches of this nasty ice pellet stuff, the mountains between here and home were getting six inches of honest to goodness snow. SNOW!!! IN MARCH!! It's SPRING people! Not that I was bitter about loosing a day at home or anything...and ok, so the drive on Saturday was beautiful and maybe it gave me a chance to grade a bunch of midterms that I didn't have to take home but...still, SPRING break.

I have terrible news to report. Not only did I engage in little to no knitting over break, I actually performed major unknitting that brought my total for the week to well below "no knitting" and into "subtotal knitting." And this, dear friends, leads me to an announcement. I give on the New Year's resolution. MUST. CAST. ON.

Before thou doest shame me, consider...I've finished all but three of the projects. One of the projects now looks like this because it sucked. That was the unknitting from break. We'll just sit on that a while. So no project here.


So, now I've finished all but two of the projects. TWO projects, that's as near to nothing as makes no odds in the world of knitting. Plus the orange thing has hit a point where I'm not sure what I want. Long sleeves, no sleeves, short sleeves...and I don't think the answer is coming anytime soon.


So, that just leaves the creamy cardi. It's done to the arm holes with a sleeve started and while I love it, it. is. like. dragging. through. mud. to. knit.


Thus, I now conclude the resolution DONE. I've learned my lesson about having a zillion things on needles and wasn't that the point. Don't we all feel better about ourselves, group hug! Thus, I'm casting on like a crazy woman - just watch me. Already finished a sock this week, next one cast on too. The picture makes it look a lot like the pheonix sock but it is different, really!


And the spinning...ah, I love spinning. No resolutions in sight!

St. Pat's Purchases

Now that the weather is better we are out and about all the time. I've been itching to get to the LYS and use my gift certificate. Then I got an email from them that on St. Paddy's day all yarn with green in it was 15% off. That was all the push I needed. I don't think I've knitted with green yarn before.

I made these purchases (in addition to size 2 needles I forgot to include in the photo). The "apple" yarn is a cotton I am using for a belt. The pattern has some new stitches I haven't done but is obviously just the same thing repeated, so I figured it is the perfect project for me right now. The green yarn I will use for a basic scarf; I don't have a pattern yet but it just looked fun to work with.




And now you are thinking, "What? an entire post without pictures of Ellery?!?" Well, I wouldn't want to disappoint. So here is Ellery with her Dad at the LYS.