More neck warmers and a pal for my pet...

The pink/ purple and blue Ribbon neck warmer- made with merino of unknown origin, from stash. 3 color seed st over 30 stitches. make a button hole. fold in half. crochet closed and sew the button.
for a little girl who likes pink/ purple and blue.

And another red neck hug for a friend's birthday. Hope she likes it. I call it the Elizabethan neck hug.


Its Esperanza yarn, from Schaefer Yarn, 70% lambswool, 30% alpaca, in the Memorable Women collection, but this one is old- the color is called Lucille Ball.





And after reading that alpacas are social animals, and one should never have just the one, I had no choice but get mine a pal...
You all want to know what I'll be asking from this and the other alpaca pet- but I don't have a plan for them yet.

ECF- Alpaca and winter

100% baby alpaca, handspun from Loop. She calls it "Ice Cream Sundae"

(Chocolate, caramel, vanilla); I call it my new pet!

Winter wonderland (I love the neutral colors!)- on frozen "Pond."

Moving on....

Thanks for your nice words about my knitting! Many of you have asked how I knit so fast, (which I think of only as so-so fast, compared with some pros...). well, its simple- I knit while I watch television, at lunch time from work, and sometimes, (ahmm) when I am supposed to do other things... Like paperwork... Sigrid gave me permission to NOT do paperwork on the weekend, and I will use this card! (thanks pal!) You also asked about the pillow my feet are resting on. Its my sudoku pillow. You can read all about it in this post- (scroll to bottom)
So here are the Zombie socks. I did have enough yarn. What lovely yarn! Its very "Koigu"
The yarn is sKNITches’ Bebop Sock in Zombie
The pattern: Oak Ribbed socks (Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush) but I made the rib K3, P1,K1,P1 over 66 stitches.
US1 2 circs.
I am going over stash and old books to pick a next big project, and one thing got nixed: Minimalist Funnel Neck. I started it with Rowan felted tweed, but it was just too annoying. I recall Alice had trouble with all those confusing increases. Its a shame, since it looked like a fun pattern, but- NO. so what next? Not sure. Looking. Its really fun going over old books. I do want to use the felted tweed. I have the color Ginger. Have you seen Dave's awesome mitts?
I also frogged Hopeful. I was really not into that pattern. Its a great Rowan cotton/wool in red. I will use it better some other way.
OTN- a little scarf in 3 color seed stitch in pink, purple, blue. Its for a little girl in the same gym as my son's. She saw me knitting while waiting for him and asked me if I'll make her something in those colors. Dive to stash! Some nice merino, but no bands, so I don't know what is the yarn.
Its fun to make, even as it is bright....

FO Saturday

I should be doing paperwork! But, here I am in blogland. So much to catch up, to read, to bookmark, to download patterns, to buy some new yarn. Ahhhhhhh, big sigh. Why am I buying yarn? Well, See, I visited sockpron, and she now makes these stitch markers (gorgeous!) and I lost the one I got in London, so I need a new set, so I got them, and so I just happened to key in Etsy "handspun alpaca", and I just happen to find some lovely lovely "handspun alpaca" in natural (undyed ) colors, and they just happen to end up in my shopping cart. So what was I to do? I did not want to be rude, so I purchased them...
But- I have been knitting. And from stash!
Finished (the zipper) the ribbed cardi from chic knits in the incredibly inexpensive but great yarn from knit-picks. Despite some wonderful zipper tutorials I opted to have it done by a seamstress at the cleaners. I just was not ready... It was great to knit, and awesome to wear! The rib thing makes it warmer!
I am really into the neck-warmer thingy. Knit with alpaca from the stash (alpaca yarn I bought in London. Artesano alpaca- Inca cloud, color#53 knit in the round with size 6US,) in a cable stitch I wanted to try. You make the cable over 10 stitches, and alternate where you start. It was fun to make, but I will not make a sweater from it.
Also finished my Gentleman’s Fancy socks (Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush) in Trekking Pro Natura Bamboo socks (color 1603). What a great fiber to knit with! Wool and bamboo. These are great fitting socks. I modified with a shorter leg portion, so no tapering, and I made an eye of the partridge heel flap and sq heel. They feel and fit so well. I highly recommend this yarn. And for those looking to knit for guys who do no like too colorful socks (...) these are very toned down colors, yet never boring! (hello, its Trekking!)
OTN now is another pair of socks Oak Ribbed socks, (Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush) but I made the rib K3, P1,K1,P1. Its a combination I wrote down on a scrap paper a few months ago (don’t know what inspired it) and have wanted to try it. The yarn is sKNITches’ Bebop Sock yarn (100% Superwash merino) in color Zombie. Lush and lovely yarn!!! For some reason I was in a rush to de- skein this and wound it into one ball, so I could not do my usual of knitting from two ends together, and now I am worried I will run out of yarn, so I started the second sock. I sure hope it lasts, although I am already prepared to knit the toes in black. Does a rib take more yarn? Maybe I’ll do the foot part in stockinet.. This is a pleasure to knit with.
My next socks will be toe up. You read it here first...
I also joined Project Spectrum 2.0! I am super excited but also a bit nervous, since I chose for the first section ( February / March Blue, White, Gray) to have another go at my VK lace shawl.

Early bird catches the flake!

So we finally had snow today!

Well, OK Colorado, it was just a dusting, and yes it melted by 10am, but still...

Thursday

Friday

EC Panda...

The Sichuan Wolong Panda Protection and Breed Center is dealing with the results of a breeding boom -- 16 pandas have been born since July, 2006. The brood includes five sets of twins. The heaviest tips the scale at just over 24 pounds, while the lightest weighs about 11 pounds. The pandas are due to stop suckling by February, 2007 just about the time they'll start learning to walk. Once weaned, the panda cubs will attend panda kindergarten.

Sorry to say, but I did not go to china to take the photos...

ECF

Reconnecting with my stash! That's a beautiful thing!

Conquering Clutter

Still working on finding the elusive balance and the desired order in my life. I have done a lot de-cluttering this weekend. You'd have a hard time believing it if you saw my place today, but bags of rubbish, broken toys and unwanted clothing (what is your cut off date? 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 or more years of never wearing something to send it to the thrift shop?) have been amassed!
Part of the process is what I call "House Chores ADD" (Attention Deficit Disorder). While clearing and organizing I find things that need my attention, and stray from the original route. Like 2 skeins of Noro Kureyon I found, reminded me I need to make a second Child Rainbow Scarf for my cousin's second daughter. So here it is... Rainbow # 2. I think I have some Silk Garden in the stash to make one for myself as well. These are SO much fun to make.
I found out why I stopped working on Hopeful; I needed a second circular #6US needle, so trip to LYS resulted in some wool/bamboo sock yarn from Trekking! Oh, its lovely!! So I remembered I waned to make the Gentleman’s Fancy socks from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush, so here we are.

And the de-cluttering? You best be reading all about it here:
Conquering Clutter! Yes, you too! Its for anybody who has even the tiniest stash... There is a lot more to it than meets the eye!

Talk about weird…

This is not suppose to happen in January:

The grass is GREEN.
The bulbs are popping
The Forsythia is out.
The buds are popping.
All over the world they are talking about snowless December. The first December in NYC without a snowflake here since 1877, (although not in Colorado...)
Ok, I know this is not politically correct, and I do love snow fun (although not the urban mess it becomes a day later) but I don't mind a mild winter. So there, I said it.

Six weird things about me

Rebecca tagged me- hmmmmmm...
Ok, so weird is totally relative. What is an everyday custom in one place is odd and unusual in another. But maybe there are some universal odd things.

1. I don’t buy/ read the paper. I dislike bad news; moreover, I am allergic to the ink it is printed with. Some friends think I am allergic to the news. Possible. I do scan the news on the Internet.
2. I despise things that arrive broken. Like my son’s first real bed that arrived with one of the parts broken. It infuriates me. I am writing this now (Sat morning) waiting for customer service to open. That’s when I am not calm Alice…
3. Amidst the chaos of living with a toddler, I have one closet that is only mine where all the items are standing to attention like soldiers on parade. Don’t even think of going there…
4. Got to dry my face first when I come out of the shower.
5. I don’t like to knit two things that are the exact same thing. There always HAS to be something different.
6. I guess I am so weird/ out-of-it/ eccentric, I can’t think of anything else, although I am sure my friends will disagree…….

Fantasy ECF

Edited to add: ECF- Eye Candy Friday. windows at Bergdorf Goodman NYC. click to see details. All the animals are made of mosaic!

Candy Wrapper -Twister

First FO of 2007! Neck wrap Twister. This is Rain's fab creation, she calls it Twister,
Candy Wrapper style, only this one is shorter for a little something around the neck. Its hasn't been much of a winter here, so a scarf can be a bit bulky.
The Yarn is from stash. A wonderful yarn I have had for years!
Its Esperanza yarn, from Schaefer Yarn, 70% lambswool, 30% alpaca, in the Memorable Women collection, but this one is old- the color is called Lucille Ball.
It feels so buttery and warm. I did not want to take it off last night after I finished it. I have seriously warmed up to the idea of neck warmers/wrappers, inspired by cosymakes' knits for your neck , and you'll see a bunch more soon, right here.

2006 to 2007

2006 has been my most productive knitting year to date, and I’ve been knitting awhile! last week I knit two little things- a neck warmer for me, and a hat for my dad ( the last knit, in a day, of 2006, from stash!) who said he wanted something simple for walking the dog. well- it can't be simpler, can it?
You are all to “blame” for my fab productivity. It all started last October 2005, when I found the great knitting group in NYC Sit N Knit organized by the amazing Annie. I met many wonderful young creative knitters, and some had blogs. I thought to myself: “Self, blogs are for other people who have nothing to do, not you. You don’t have spare time!” But than I thought: “Well a few minutes a week, surely, I could find a little time…” little did I know that this will escalate to a full-scale blogoditis! Not only does it take more than a few minutes a week, (ya’ right!) its addictive and I Love it! Blogging and reading knitting blogs!!!! The inspiration has been tremendous and I met so many global knitting buddies, and teachers. I also found way too many lovely, gorgeous, luscious yarns to buy. I did not even know about 80% of them, and now I find I HAVE to have some… So now knitting/blogging has to happen, so who has time for housework? What housework? Yes Annie, its all your fault, every time I knit and or blog instead of doing the laundry! So it was a great knitting year. I participated in some swaps and KAL. It was fun. I will do those again, I am sure, this year.
Before 2006 I knit 2pairs of socks, ever! I in 2006-I knit 11!
So here goes the 2006 list: (see them all here)
11 pairs of socks (not counting the bunny feet…)
7 hats
5 scarves and one neck warmer
2 pairs of fingerless gloves
1 tank top
4 sweaters
3 pillows
3 iSocks
2 miscellaneous

Only 2 projects remain UFO- the Hopeful top and the sea silk lace scarf. I have tried lace for the first time and I am still not loving it. Perhaps I need to find better needles for it. What are your favorites for lace? I will finish them up.

Resolutions for 2007
I will get more sleep. I am a much happier, smarter, faster, funnier, stronger (simply better) person with more sleep. No two ways about it. Not to mention how much better I look…
I will learn how to spin.
I will make an inventory of my stash. Rain has dared me to count every inch. LOL! LOL! That will not be possible… I am going for a more general picture with labeled boxes. My trip to the container store was fruitful and I know can see my bedroom floor for the first time in months! No ladies, not everyone has a yarn room, or a yarn cave… but I can play pretend... ☺
I will make an effort to knit from stash. I have lovely yarn! Why not knit it? I am not joining the stash KAL, but nonetheless…
I want to knit with:
Estelle: 100% Italian sportweight cashmere
 (clapotis, still waiting for the right yarn!)
Crown Mountain Farms Sock Hop (socks, and or gloves.) Does anyone know where to get it? They are always out of stock.
I will knit a toe-up. It’s about time.
For my son, I will only knit socks for a while. He seems to like those but thinks the rest of it is “not cool.” So be it…
I will knit more lace. I shall finish at least 3 lace projects in 2007. Yes I will.
I will felt some clogs with beads.
I will be very careful not to fall short in premature terminations. A few projects had to be froged and inches added. Maybe its because kids do grow at night…
I hope I will have more leisure time from now on; and use some of it to meet with my knitting friends!
No other major plans yet, although there are a bunch of things I’d love to knit, they are too many to list.
And last, but NOT LEAST- I will have fun knitting!
Oh, I forgot. I looooove all your comments! Please keep’m coming. It’s really good to hear from you! Happy New Year!

Live from NYC its 2007 baby!