Moving right along

The weekend was full of fiber. Sheep-sheering and spinning. I did my first Andean plying. Woohoo! I got a 2ply. Well- guess what- I need to learn to spin thinner, so I will not end up with rope. I also joined Sockapalooza 4 and I have my pal's info!! I am working hard on my knitting group's sock exchange, due May 5th. Sockapalooza 4 is not due till August. Phew! Sorry, can't chat now. Back to my socks!

And here is spring on Park Ave NYC:

ECF- Nature or Art?

See the tulip- see the Chihuly.

Yes, it is a Knitting blog!

I know some of you are wondering if all that spring has not gone to my head with all those flower shots. I did go a bit nuts with the flower power- but I just could not help it. It all adds up to or vision of life. I am also teaching my son to look. Look at this flower how many petals, colors, size, leaves or not etc. Its not so much about the flowers but about looking to see and not just gloss over. I love the saying: "what is this life if full of care we have no time to stand and stare."

The flowers were not meant to be a smoke screen covering no-knitting... There has been knitting!

Austreman step sock. Its my 24/lost/soprano project. When watching TV is more "demanding..."

Another secret project- just above here
and my pin stripe cardi- which I wish was done last week. these are the sleeves. back and the two fronts are finished. It will soon be done. I get that familiar feeling at my finger tips, when you are on a role and the project is soon done. And I may have to do a crochet project. Not that anyone is forcing me to do it, but THIS is just so amazing, and I have some stash for it! I think I have a crush on that blanket...

And thanks for your encouragements (from the pros no less!) about the spinning. I had not had much time, but this weekend there will be lots of spinning . Fleece Festival in Brooklyn on Saturday and Sit n' Spin...Yarn with my knitting group on Sunday!

need I say more?

Cherry Blossom Central Park, NYC.

Magnificent Magnolias

Happy Earth Day.
Its all about the Pink and yellows this time of year. Maybe a touch of new green.

Happy Earth Day!

For earth day my son wanted to wear something green. A linen button down shirt that had to be ironed. How did he get here (5) so fast?
Smiles and tears.
Happy Earth Day to all.

Fiber Friday

A girl has to have fiber in her diet! So I followed my mother's advice, related to cooking- when you have the best ingredients- your dish is half done. Here are some excellent ingredients. As a matter of fact, they are so excellent- I am afraid to ruin them. I need to get some more practice fiber. Crown Mountain and Hello Yarn.

All grown up!

This is what my yarn is doing today. it was great fun to knit. I could not stop- I kept wanting to see what's next. can one be in love with one's first hand spun hat............? I am going to sleep with it on my head tonight. its definitely cold enough! its lined with knitpicks Ambrosia (80% Baby Alpaca, 20% Cashmere) in color grass. I also used a bit on top, since I ran out of yarn.

ECF-Hand spun on my spindle.

Adrian said its like a bird's nest with the little robin eggs. I take it as a huge compliment. (blush)

Cool spring inspiration

Cool spring inspiration as in chilly. Its been. Chilly. Oh well, a little more chance to wear my knitted socks (today's are these). Also feels good to play with fibers. I have been knitting. I made glove one to match the scarf. I made up the pattern as I went, knitting with my new Addi lace doing magic loop. fingers are knit with 4 DP, two sizes smaller, and I placed one of the lace motifs to tie it up. I was not sure if that is wise for gloves- but I think its true, knit gloves are for chilly days, not extreme conditions. I also don't know my pals hand measurements so I made it for an average woman's hand. It was fun to make. I am sure to make another pair for me.

I have also been spinning a bit. There is too much prep time... and when time is limited... Here I am, all calm and in the zone- this timer picture was taken 3 minutes before my son woke from his nap an hour too early. Needless to say it was all over..... I am really into browns and blues with grays and creams in the mix. If I see yarn in those combos I have a hard time NOT purchasing it... Here, I am experimenting with mixing fibers, and just simply spinning, cause I don't really know much. The neutrals are Shetland wool from Hello Yarn. It has long hairs and feels almost silky when spun. The dyed yarn is merino from Yarn Tree. lovely. It has short hair.
Its really fun mixing the colors, and I can see the wheel is the way to go, eventually (when the kid graduates college?) The yarn was washed (never boiled as my book warns) and is now hanging to dry with a weight to help it relax the twist. I can't wait to see what it will knit like. Mind you, the drying can take two days. The suspense is tough to handle, I better go and knit something to calm myself...
There is also the secret socks- but I can't show it to you............yet.

Step 1 step 2 step 3

Birds Nest Scarf

Birds Nest Shawl (in scarf form) from Folk Shawls by Cheryl Oberle, in Artful Yarn's Virtue. Its 100% cashmere. Oh so lush and soft. Its for my pal at the ISE4. After blocking it is even softer and clocked in at 75"x 9.5". I used 6 skeins of the blue and 2 of the purple. Addi circ US4 for the purple border and Addi lace US 6 47" long for lace part. (LOVE it) with the lace needles it just flew. Next will come the gloves.
I had two days of no knitting. I did a lot of blog hopping and flicker surfing (practically addicted to flicker). So much so that I feel a little overwhelmed. There is SO MUCH creativity out there, it got me. At times it is inspiring, at times, paralyzing.

First quarterly report of 2007

Wow! It was a busy one. I finished 15 out of the 16 projects I started. (still knitting away on my pinstripe cardi). Neck warmers are the it thing for me this quarter. I knit 6. Also- 3 scarves, and 4 pairs of socks. I knit my first felted item. I finished 2 lace items (Phew. That was hard!) I finished 3 items for PS2 and almost done with the 4. Apparently I contributed 120 photographs to PS@ so far. Check them out! We are moving to phase 2= yellow/ pink/ green. It was nice to focus on a color theme, and I am glad photography was added as a medium!

I learnt how to spin! Wow. Boy, am I in trouble now..............

And now- my mystery item:
Birds Nest Shawl (in scarf form) from Folk Shawls by Cheryl Oberle, in Artful Yarn's Virtue. Its 100% cashmere. Oh so lush and soft. Its for my pal at the ISE4. It will knit matching fingerless gloves. I was going to make it stockinette when my friend Barbara (who is a local knitting guru at The Point) suggested I add one of the lace motif on the gloves as well. Brilliant. I'll have to make up a pattern. This is an unblocked photo I took last night; the scarf is blocking as I type. I am very please with how it came out, even though it was not as planned. It was planned to be a shawl, but after one pattern repeat I realized I will not have enough yarn, even with the purple border, so I decided to reverse the pattern, thinking it will give me somewhat of a mirror image- which it did not (due to the orientation of the stitches) but rather a complimentary pattern. It came out different but I really like it. I may try to make this in another yarn as a shawl, but I will knit it vertically next time. I get lost a bit in 350 stitches per row. I did get SO MUCH better when my new super needles came- Addi lace. highly recommend. Its amazing what the right tool for the job can contribute.

All this was possible because I have whole heartedly embraced this mantra: (which I read on artyfartykat's blog. Thanks for the info kathryn!)

Housework comes before Knitting
only in the dictionary!