To go or not to go . . .

That is the question! I'm referring, of course, to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival which is next weekend. I want to go, but I have such a yarn stash that I hesitate to add to it. I have two small orders to place for a couple of projects already, so I should follow my instincts and stay away this year. I was hoping to go to the festival to get some Tilli Tomas yarn for the Labyrinth pattern. I think I will wait and just pay retail for it. I won't be making it until winter unless the SKC chooses it to be the next KAL project.

I got a deal on some Debbie Bliss Pure Silk on Ebay:

I hope to make the Hourglass Jacketfrom Stitch Diva:

I plan on making the one with longer sleeves.

I received some lovely goodies from my Ravelry Coffee Swap Pal!

A skein of Chunky Malabrigo, a skein of Chunky Misti Alpaca, a lovely mug, a pound of Sumatra coffee beans, a Scharfenberger Dark Chocolate bar, some stitch markers and a photo postcard from San Francisco! Here's a closer look at those stitch markers:

Notice--they are made out of coffee beans!

I found two cute patterns on Ravelry. One, called Sprout, is a little cropped cardigan which can be knit top down. I like that it has cables on the raglan seams. One person did yarn overs for the increases which created rows of holes next to the cables. I really liked that. Here is one photo:

I have 3 skeins of Handpainted Yarn merino which is basically the same as Malabrigo which I will use for this. The other pattern is a purchased pdf. I will have to knit the bodice at a smaller gauge as the smallest size is a 36.

The featured yarn is Tilli Tomas. I have a full skein of my Double Sea Silk left from Giselle. I love that yarn so I am thinking that I will purchase 2 more skeins and use it. I may do the crochet trim with the brown sea silk as I did for Giselle. I also have the brown silk ribbon. I think the color combo will work well for this.

I got a late birthday present this week:

A 16 gb ipod touch! I love it. I've put a lot of my photos on and part of my music. This also has wireless so I have my email accounts set up as well. My ipod mini was on the way out as was my palm so I figured this would take the place of both of them!

Other news this past week--I got my cast off! I have a removable splint which I have to wear most of the time. I cannot use my hand for gripping and lifting yet so I still can't really knit. Bummer. I go back to the doctor on May 13 after which I will start therapy to get my strength back. I had to take Mikey to the vet. I noticed that he'd been losing weight and he seemed a little lethargic. He was also crying for food all the time. These were the same symptoms he had when he was first diagnosed with diabetes. Sure enough, his glucose level was high at 296. Normal is between 125 and 150. We've increased is insulin and he goes back on Friday. He seems to be feeling a little better as you can see here:

He was watching DH trim the tree out the window!

This weekend was totally stress free! I got a pedicure yesterday and a massage today! I feel ready for my wild little darlings tomorrow at school!

It's been an absolutely lovely week. Spring at last--or not! Apparently it is going to be cold and rainy this week.

That's about it for now!

Bushism of the day:
"We actually misnamed the war on terror. It ought to be the Struggle Against Ideological Extremists Who Do Not Believe in Free Societies Who Happen to Use Terror as a Weapon to Try to Shake the Conscience of the Free World." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Aug. 6, 2004

Kitty Cam: Samantha tries to inch her way onto my lap while I type. My left arm is currently covered with kitty spit!

Sheep & Wool continued

I must say that I exercised a huge amount of self-control at the Sheep & Wool festival. I went with a list--mainly looking for yarn for 2 sweaters. One, the Simple Knitted Bodice, was to be knit in Tilli Tomas as I mentioned in my last post. I will go early next year and take care of that one. The other, the Cable Down Raglan from the Sprink IK, is still up in the air. The pattern is shown knit up in Louet Gems Worsted weight merino. I'm debating whether to use merino or cotton for that one. I've learned not to buy yarn for a pattern unless I absolutely love it and nothing really tickled my fancy for that one. Funny--I came across some perfect yarn on Ebay last night--Berroco Pure Merino in Resin which is a goldish kind of color. I love the color and it would go beautifully with all the browns, rusts, and olive greens that I wear! That's it! I will order that!

Of course, I did get sock yarn--Koigu, which I've never seen at the LYS. Gorgeous colors!

I bought yarn for another small project also. I have a pattern for a beaded scarf which I love. I already have some teal cashmere with black beads, but I saw the same scarf knitted up in variegated sock weight merino so I got some with the beads!

I've decided to try drop spindle spinning. I am trying to plan a colonial living history day for our 5th grade next year at school and I thought it would be fun to teach them drop spindle spinning. I picked up a pound of roving and some simple spindles.

Then I got a fancy spindle for myself!

This one came with a kit which included the book and some black fleece. The spindle is made of cherry and brass and it is lovely. This crafter made all kinds of designs and had little stands to display them in.

I bought a book at Borders earlier in the week.

Check out some of the designs!




Ooh la la! Sexy stuff! Gotta love it!

Progress on Sahara is steady. I have finished the first sleeve and I got one repeat of the lace pattern done on the neckline (which doesn't show in the photo). Once I'm done with the neckline, I'll do the other sleeve. The neckline lace isn't knit in the round and every pattern repeat (every 3 stitches) involves a P3tog tbl which is a nightmare! When done in the round as on the sleeves and hem, it's a K3tog tbl which is so much easier. The purl thing is nasty and I'm not liking it. It takes forever. I will make myself finish that part by tomorrow night.



Other news--I joined Curves today! It really seems like a good environment for what I need to do and I have set a goal to go 3 times a week!

I took Mikey to the vet this afternoon for his first glucose test in a month. It was in the high normal range so that's good news. He's gaining weight which shows that the diabetes is getting under control, but he's overweight so he really needs to lose weight! Gee--someone should develop a Curves for Kitties!

I hate to admit that I have no kitty photos today! Who would believe with 4 cats that I couldn't catch one of them being cute!

Sheep & Wool

I know! Boring title, but I feel brain dead and couldn't come up with anything better! The Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival was this past weekend. I hadn't been in a couple of years so I decided I needed to go! I was fortunate enough to get into a class on Friday which lasted all day. Cables World Tour taught by Janet Szabo. The work this woman does is unbelievable! We basically did a lot of swatches and I learned quite a lot! Here a a few of the samples:

As I was leaving, I was able to ogle over some of the yarn the vendors were putting up, but the vendors didn't open until Saturday. I learned a lesson this year. If I really want something that I know will be available--go Saturday morning. Period. You snooze, you lose! I knew that Tilli Tomas would have a stand and I wanted some of her yarn for my Simple Knitted Bodice. Her yarn is really pricey and no one discounts it. By the time I got to her stand Sunday afternoon, there wasn't much of a selection. The prices were about 30% off so that's completely understandable. She said she would be there next year, so I'll wait since I probably wouldn't be knitting that sweater up until then anyway!

I know people who have to sneak their yarn purchases into the house so their spouses won't see them. My spouse worries more about me bringing an animal home. It was tempting. I fell in love with Berniece:

She is a 3 year old angora bunny who was looking for a new home. I love watching people spin directly from the rabbits. They just put the bunny in their lap and pluck the hair right onto the spinning wheel!



Of course there were sheep at the festival. My favorites are the Karakuls:


Here is Pheelya fondling a big one!


Don't forget the alpacas!

I particularly like the ones with the punk rock hair!

My very favorite animals at the festival were the llamas! They seem so regal for some reason. I think it's because they look so much like camels!


I'll write about my purchases tomorrow. Of course, no collection of animal photos would be complete without kitties! Here's Bar in his new sleeping place! He found a spot on DH's bedroom chair and has spent the last 5 nights there!

Gettin' There!

I can't believe that I have finally gotten to the lace trim on the hem of my Sahara! Granted I still have to do the neckline lace and the sleeves, but the body of the sweater is done and it fits like a charm! My quandry has been how to do the beads. The lace pattern is as follows:

Row 1: P2, yo, k1, yo
Row 2: P2, k3
Row 3: P2, k3
Row 4: P2 k3tog TBL

Two repeats of the lace pattern are done for a total of 8 rows. Someone told me that they added the beads to the middle K stitch every other group of 3 k stitches on row 3 only. That makes sense but it wasn't enough beads for me. I added them to the middle k stitch every other row on row 2 then to the alternate groups of 3 on row 3. This created a slight zig zag the way the beads lie. I'm not sure if I just should have done it to every group of 3 on one row only or not. I'll be able to tell when I finish the lace. I have finished 4 rows for one repeat of the lace as you can see in the photo:




The next question for me was how to actually knit the beads in. I've seen a lot of different techniques but I decided on knitting the first stitch, bringing the yarn in front with a bead, slipping the next stitch as if to knit, then bringing the yarn to the back and knitting the next stitch. This way the bead is centered right in front of the stitch where you want it and it won't slide to the back of the work. It is rather time consuming, but the result is nice. I wasn't sure how this yarn would work with the beads, but it is holding up well.

These beads are Miyuki size 5/0 triangle beads with a color core (in burnt orange) and clear glass outer layer. I used a dental floss threader to string them on the yarn. These are handy little items. I happened to have a pack of them because I use them to thread my serger loopers. I'm so glad I remembered that I had them! I only strung enough for one repeat of the lace so I will have to cut the yarn and string more. I counted the beads used in the first repeat so at least I know how many to string this time.



The pattern has you do the sleeves next, but I think I will do the neckline lace so that I can actually try the sweater on and see how it really fits. It's so open without the lace panel that it's difficult to gauge the fit.

I used my new KnitPicks needles for the lace. I like the points on these needles and find them excellent for lace knitting. The cables are odd to me. I'm so used to my Addis which have some spring whereas these cables are rather limp. Also, the Addis at this length (24") have a curve where the cable connects to the needles which I like. There is no way I could've done a k3togTBL with the Addis though--at least not without a great deal of frustration.

Maryland Sheep and Wool festival is next weekend. I have to plan accordingly. It's so easy to go overboard and get stuff for the stash which isn't how I like to buy yarn. I prefer to purchase yarn with a specific pattern in mind otherwise I end up with odd amounts that I can't use for what I like. I have two patterns in mind: Stephanie Japel's Cable Down Raglan from the Spring IK and the Stitch Diva Simple Knitted Bodice. The Cable Down Raglan needs a plain merino or blend worsted weight. The Simple Knitted Bodice needs a drapey yarn. The sample is done in Tilli Tomas Plain and Simple with her beaded yarn for the lace panels. Tilli Tomas will have a stand at the festival so I can actually look at this yarn which I've never seen in person. I won't buy it unless it is discounted because I don't see myself knitting this pattern any time soon. They carry this yarn on Kpixie and send out coupons periodically so I will wait for that otherwise. I've learned to walk through all the vendors before buying yarn because as soon as I see something I like, I can almost count on finding something I like even better later. So I scout it all out first and only purchase something if it is a one of a kind type of item. What I'm really in the market for is some undyed yarn to play with. I have two skeins of Bare merino from my Secret Pal and I would like to get some other fibers. Earth Guild sets up there and they have everything imaginable for dying so I can get the dyes and chemicals from them. Friday I will be taking an all day cabling class. Apparently they will cover every type of cable imaginable! I have to watch the funds as Bird's 21st birthday is the following week!

Of course I have to show kitties. Greg was sloppy this week. Usually he manages to crawl under the bedspread without mussing the bed, but I went upstairs the other day and found this:



I'll have to have a serious talk with him about that. Meanwhile, that night Harley was the one who was hiding.



I drape my bathtowel over the edge of the whirlpool to dry and Harley gets in the tub and tries to hide under the towel! Often he will pull it down into the tub and walk in a circle until the towel forms a bird's nest type of structure in which he sleeps the entire night! Go figure!



For once, Mikey's acting like the normal one!

I have to get back to finishing my lace so I can take it off the needles tonight!