My last post at this blog address

I want to bid a fond farewell to this blogspace. I am still in blog land, but am making a move. I have news about my spinning, the shop and other exciting tidbits over at the new location. Please come over and say hello! See you soon!

Etsy and more official news

I have officially opened my etsy shop!!!!!!!! So far, I just have my hand dyed yarns listed, but I have some fiber batts ready to go up there as well. I just got my new digital scale today so I can accurately advertise these now. Hooray! Please stop by and let me know what you think! Isn't it exciting?! I would also like to make another "official" move and announce to the world that my Marm and I are opening a yarn/spinning/knitting shop in late April/early May. We are so thrilled to have this opportunity and since we both have a blog, we want to write about store stuff too. We have decided to merge the three into one big coop blog for her, for me, and for shop goodies! I will post here a few more times, since we are still getting the new blog up and running, but I will eventually be moving to this new address. Thanks to all of my faithful readers, and I hope you will join me over there. It can only be even more fun with my mom contributing as well! :) Hope to see you there, please join us on this adventure! P. S. How do you folks out there in blog land pronounce etsy by the way? I have heard it etsy and I have heard it eetsy...just curious! :)

Drum carders and fiber blending

I am sorry that I have been unable to post for a while. Our internet decided to go on vacation for a few days, but I think we have it back now :) Here's what I did this weekend! We have been working on our craft room, more details over at my mom's blog. So, we now have all this space specifically designed for creativity and fiber-y fun! I broke out the drum carder and decided to blend some roving that I got for Christmas. It started out like this, but I wanted more blended color rather than sections of color.

I pulled the colors apart and pre-carded them on their own-
(By the way, the colors below are true to the way they really look, more so than above)

I took these and split them all up, making little groups of one of each color


I put them on the drum carder like this-


After one layer of the colors in this order, I added another layer of colors laid out in a different order. I pulled it off the carder, pulled into more of a roving and here it is!


I wanted a lot of color definition so I only put it through the carder once. I am so excited about how it turned out, I can't wait to spin it all up! I will be posting a knitting update, turning the heels on my socks and my cardigan! I am on the left front...moving right along! :)

Dyeing self striping yarn and other adventures

As I mentioned in my previous post, I wanted to dye some self striping yarn to knit myself up a pair of socks. I am at a stopping point and can now share my progress with you! I started out by making a gigantic skein, dyeing the yarn, and then re-skeining this huge skein to wind onto the ball winder. Here is my yarn, freshly dried and waiting to be put into a ball and knitted with.


And here is this same skein on my very professional skein winder that made this skein the exact dimensions I was looking for. Exciting, huh? As you can see, one of the stripes will be a mottled blue and white...my Marm's idea :) Brilliant!

Now, I split up the skein into two equal balls, found the same point on both of them This is to get a result of socks that will stripe at exactly the same points...this is very important to me! By no means do I look down on you folks who like mismatched stripes, (on the contrary, I envy you your freedom, LOL) or knit one sock at a time! I only know what I like for my socks, and I do it ;) I also have found that I enjoy knitting toe-up, so that's what I do. I have fallen in love with the Turkish cast on method (tutorial here) because it's SO easy, makes an incredibly seamless toe-up cast on, and looks great to me! Here's what my socks are looking like after the toe increases are all completed.


I love, love, love how this yarn turned out and how the stripes are forming! The colors in the above picture are exactly how they look in the yarn (at least on my laptop). I decided on a simple 2x2 ribbed pattern for this pair. I love the simplistic beauty of ribbed socks, and they hug your foot so nicely! I just realized something- Congratulations are in order! I am knitting something for myself!

Ok, here's the back-

And the front-

So, onto the other adventures. I have been dyeing some fiber lately and wanted to try blending! I started out with about 1 ounce each of pink, teal, blue, white, and a grape color. This is what I got! The colors look pretty well blended, but they spun up very distinctly. My Marm spun it up, knitted a sample, so look for that upcoming bit of loveliness on her blog soon!


Ok, now this is not totally off the topic of knitting (these would show off some hand-knitted socks beautifully!), but I saw these and had to add them to my mental "buy as soon as possible" list :) Aren't they to die for? They're Keens and their shoes are one of my weaknesses. *sigh* I have had a pair of their tennis shoe type shoes all year last year and they have become a staple in my wardrobe. These shoes are addicting!

Turkish cast on tutorial

This was the only video tutorial I could find of this cast on method...There is also a step by step tutorial with great pictures over at Debi's blog.

Which Austen Heroine Are You?

You Are...Elinor Dashwood!

You are Elinor Dashwood of Sense & Sensibility! You are practical, circumspect, and discreet. Though you are tremendously sensible and allow your head to rule, you have a deep, emotional side that few people often see. Take the quiz!

Noro Silk Garden Scarf

I finally finished my scarf, here are the details:

Pattern: Free Noro Silk Garden Scarf
Yarn: Evening Forest hand dyed (I am not sure which store, my Marm got it for me from Etsy), fingering weight...I made mine 7 feet long, it took about 475 yards to knit it to that length.
Needles: Size 1 circulars, Harmony from Knit Picks
Started: December 18, 2007
Finished: February 8, 2008 (keep in mind that I only worked on this at out weekly Barnes & Noble knitting group, so don't be dismayed...it's so easy!)

So I am very excited to have this scarf done, but now I have to start something new for Tuesday nights at B&N! I am planning a pair of socks for myself, still unsure of the pattern. I do know that I want to hand dye the yarn and I have a very specific idea of how I want it to look. Keep an eye out for that, I want to get that done in the next day or two.

Speaking of dyeing, check out the newest addition to our hand dyed family!


Isn't she beautiful?! She's still waiting on a name...I haven't named any of my yarns so far, but that will change :) Have a great weekend everyone!

Things that I am totally in love with!

-This wonderful platter that my Marmee got me for Christmas. Isn't it so charming?! She and I saw it on our trip to Cincinnati, OH at one of my favorite shops, Ten Thousand Villages, and I fell completely in love. If you have never heard of Ten Thousand Villages, you have to try and find one near you. They have some very incredible, unique items for sale and it all directly benefits the craftsmen and artisans who created them. Everything is surprisingly reasonably priced too! Their "employees" are all volunteer and, not only do you find something you can't live without (every time you visit, I might add, lol), you feel great about supporting them. Here's what they have to say at their website:

Since 1946 Ten Thousand Villages has supported the work of literally tens of thousands of artisans in over 30 countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East, making us one the largest fair trade organizations in North America. Working with more than 100 artisan groups, we purchase fine pieces from craftspeople with whom we have longstanding, nurturing relationships…helping to bring dignity to their lives.

Ten Thousand Villages is a founding member of the International Fair Trade Association, an organization that includes over 200 members in 55 countries, including many artisan groups in developing countries. We are part of a worldwide movement that is striving to improve the livelihood of disadvantaged people in developing countries through the expansion of fair trade.

-My "I love Mr. Darcy" sweatshirt. I got this for Christmas also, and it's so perfect! Of course, who doesn't love Mr. Darcy? He's tall, rich, and tragically misunderstood. The perfect gentleman... every thinking woman's hero :)

- Little needle felted animals. They are so irresistable! I am so enamored by them, I may have to learn how to needle felt just so I can start a collection of these adorable creatures! There are so many on Etsy, but I am drawn to this one and this one. They do sell kits, so I may give in to the temptation sometime soon...watch out world! :)

- My knitting bag. It's not intended to be a knitting bag, but it has 4 pockets inside and is so roomy that I can fit everything that I need in there. It's a Red Tango bag, and they have so many cute bags that it's hard to choose a favorite! I am warning you though, don't go look unless you are prepared to buy, lol. This one is real leather, and such a luxury. It's perfect! I never want to have anything else for my knitting as long as I live!








-My elephant painting...
My brother, Jared, got this for me as a gift a few years ago. I love it so much! It's an original, one-of-a-kind painting done by an african elephant name Jana. She lives at the Knoxville Zoo and participates in the painting program that is intended to give the elephants there an opportunity to do something creative that they can look forward to. Isn't it fascinating? You can buy their artwork here and the proceeds go toward the Elephant Program at the zoo.

-And last, but not least, My Bailey Marie.

Like The Sun- RyanDan

This is a group that Aubrey introduced me to, they call themselves RyanDan. They are identical twins, and their voices are great! Their style is similar to Josh Groban, sort of a classical/pop. I have really enjoyed their album...check it out!

You Made My Day!!!!

I am so happy to announce that, not only did I receive this award (many thanks to Jenny Girl and Angelika...I am so honored!!!), but that I get to turn around and give it to ten other people!! I have never gotten any kind of award for my blog and it's thrilling! The rules accompanying this award are:

“Give the award to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel happy about blogland. Let them know by posting a comment on their blog so they can pass it on. Beware you may get the award several times.”

I have the happy duty to list 10 blogs that make me feel happy and warm and fuzzy inside :) These are in no particular order, by the way.

1. Marmee- Now, she insisted that I not include her in my award ceremony, but she deserves it and she's the reason for anything that I am...so in a way she has already (or should have already) gotten this award :)

2. Heather- She always has something wonderfully charming to say in her posts, her photography is inspiring...plus she's as crazy about classic literature as I am!

3. Jen- She has some pretty dyed yarns and some good tips about dyeing. Her knitting is splendiferous!

4. Amy- She has some scrumptious looking cooking posts, oh and she knits as well :)

5. Deb- She can do everything, this woman. It's overwhelming looking at all her handy work. I am so jealous!

6. Shannon- I am warning you before you check out her blog, you will drool over her many stash photos!

7. Laurie- She has a charming blog and some beautiful knitting! Check out her Noro socks!

8. Carolyn- You have to go see her beautiful mittens and gloves! This gal is a glove-knitting
wizard!

9. Suse- You have to go see the wonders that can be done with dyeing. Suse has a great tutorial on (having your kids help you) dyeing yarn using food coloring!

10. Eren- Her blog is full of beauty...photographs, classic looking sewing projects and other wonderful goodies!

Well, there you have it! I have seen so many great blogs, it's hard to only choose 10! Thanks to everyone who makes my blogland existence worthwhile! You know who you are even if you aren't listed here. Keep it up! :)

Dyeing 8 skeins!

I have had a busy dyeing day today! I have set a new record for myself at 8 skeins in one day :) These are all 60% bamboo/30% merino/10% nylon. The only drawback to this whole process is the drying! I can't wait to see what they all look like dry and put on the niddy-noddy into 1 yard skeins.


I have been trying a new technique, putting the yarn into a ball with the ball winder, then dyeing wedges of color...so far (after 2 attempts) it has been unsuccessful. The middle never takes the color, no matter what I try to do! The ironic thing is, after rewinding these 2 "failures" into skeins and overdyeing them...they are some of my favorite yarns! LOL Isn't that just the way?! These skeins that I did today were all done with dip dyeing rather than squirt bottle-ing. My wrist got really sore the other day after a couple of hours of the squirt bottles, so I went back to this method.

Now, for my knitting, I have been working tirelessly on my attempt at pieces with the cardigan I mentioned here. It's coming along nicely, only 9 more inches to go on the back...whew! I am thinking it might have been worth it to translate the pattern to circular. Oh well, next time I will :) Plus, I get the benefit of practice putting pieces together. Wish me luck!

My sister, Aubrey, is in Australia right now for 3 months...she will be back in early April and I am feeling her loss keenly. Fortunately, we get to talk almost every night. She is 16 hours ahead of me, so the timing is difficult to work out so that it's good for both of us to talk! Can't wait 'till you're home Aubrey!

Well, I have another post for tomorrow, so until then...Knit on!

Socks everywhere!

As you may know (if you read some of my older posts), I made socks for all the littles for Christmas. I finally got them all together to get a picture. Please note that I did not dye any of this yarn. Next year will be different! :)

Excursions into the unknown

Firstly, the most exciting event to occur recently was a trip to the salon. I have red highlights! It's not blatantly obvious in this picture, but there are chunks of deep red wine color there. I love it! There is still a little bit of blonde left over from my last coloring, but I didn't want any new blonde this time. Getting your hair changed is so much fun! I am really loving mine this time.

I have been busy dyeing and have three new skeins to show off. The first two are bamboo/merino/nylon blends and the yarn is so shiny and luxurious! I used my acid dyes on this yarn and it doesn't seem to take the color as thoroughly as an all wool yarn would. I still like the result, but there is one skein (not pictured) that I will be over-dyeing due to it being such a pale color. I think I will try adding more vinegar next time I dye with this yarn. I have been trying new methods of dyeing, and these were done with squirt bottles rather than dipping. I really like the effect that it gives. It makes the shades of color vary a lot so its not such a definite block of one solid color for each section. This is what I personally, prefer in a handpainted yarn and I am so excited to be able to get mine to do this.

This is a 100% merino yarn and I really loved how the colors vary so much.

So, moving on a bit, I wrote in my last post about the sweater I was starting for myself...well, please disregard all of that! I got a couple of rows into my sweater and realized that I didn't have enough yarn to complete the project. No problem, I tell myself, I will just head over to Knit Picks and order some more...no such luck. Turns out that is one of the colors that they are sold out of and won't be reordering until May! So, back to the drawing board and onto a new project that requires less yarn. I have been trying to work on some of my previously undeveloped knitting skills and I have combined some in my new project. I am knitting a child's cardigan, in pieces, with cables! Now, I have only knit a project in pieces once and it was many years ago. I haven't done cables before, and I am really enjoying that!




















I chose a Debbie Bliss pattern, from her book Great Knits For Kids, that is so very cute it called out to me. I intended this to be for my youngest sister, Mallory (since she is the smallest, lol), but I am not sure who it will be for now that I have almost finished the back. It may be too big for her, but it will fit someone in my family! :) This is an exciting adventure into the unknown...I will keep you posted!

This weekend was a great chance for me to get all this knitting done. We were watching the Buick Invitational all day Saturday and Sunday. It was so great, not only did I get the chance to watch golf while knitting, but Tiger Woods won! Now, for those of you non-golf ethusiasts that may not mean much, but it makes my weekend complete :)

My first FO of the year

I am so excited to announce that I have my first FO (finished object for you non-knitters) for 2008! Introducing, the Guernsey! Levi has been wearing it for a few hours today and is all smiles. That makes it so fulfilling...there's nothing better than having the recipient love your knitted garment as much as you hoped they would! It's difficult to see the details here in these pictures, but it was my first sweater with a stitch pattern. I really like how it turned out. I added an underarm gussett, and knitted the sleeves from the top down.

Here are more details:
Pattern: Basic Guernsey pattern from Knitting in the Old Way by Priscilla A. Gibson-Roberts.

Yarn: Plymouth Encore, worsted weight, wool/acrylic
Needle size: US 8
Started: January 6, 2008

Finished: January 20, 2008

I used Elizabeth Zimmermann's sewn cast off for the neckline and it's beautifully stretchy! It was so easy to do and looks nice and neat. There's a great tutorial for this method here. If you haven't tried it before, its perfect for cuffs on toe-up socks and necklines!

Now, on to my newest project. I have decided (with some gentle prodding from Marmee)

that I will make something for myself. I already have some yarn that I bought for the Tomten (and I decided not to use)..it's Marine Heather. The sweater I am making is Age Of Aquarius by Kathy Zimmerman. You can find it in the book The Knitters Stash. I got it from Interweave Knits Fall 2001 issue. I did find one picture of it here at Ravelry. So, I haven't gotten very far on it yet, but wish me luck! :) I am trying to make some photo jewelry with pictures of my Bailey. I found a few adorable pics that I just have to share!

More dyeing results

My skeins finally dried today at about 2:30 so on to the niddy noddy they went! My personal favorite is the brown yarn there on the left. It's difficult to see on my computer screen, but there is some burnt orange in there as well. These were done with a combination of Jacquard and Gaywool dyes, both are acid dyes. These are in fingering weight merino and, after being dyed, fluffed out very beautifully. I am working on streamlining my dyeing techniques so that I can speed the process up a bit.
This is really fun to do, but I know that my mom eventually needs the kitchen back, lol.

More Dyeing

Today we got our order of bulk yarn to dye. It's so exciting! This is what I have done so far...more pictures will follow when they are finally dry :)

Kool Aid Dyeing

As promised, here are the details of my kool-aid dyeing process.

I don't have any pictures of this part of the experiment, but the skein of yarn is soaking in warm water with a drop of dishwashing detergent. Meanwhile, we mixed one packet each of strawberry, grape, lemon-lime, lemonade mixed with orange and strawberry lemonade, with water. Be sure to use the unsweetened kool-aid. We used tepid water this time, but I think it's more effective if the water is warmer. It doesn't matter how much water you mix the kool-aid with, the yarn will absorb the dye out of the water. Oh, and by the way, although we didn't discover it this time, kool-aid does stain granite...especially the berry blue flavor, lol.


We then draped the damp skein into the bowls, separating as much length as we wanted between each of the colors. I found out that you need to be sure to move the strands around in the kool-aid mixture to be sure that the color gets to the inner layers. I also had to move the skein to make the colors overlap each other...the colors didn't bleed into each other like I had anticipated they would.


Next step is to either wait until the water is clear, or until you can see that the yarn has taken the color as much as you want. Surprisingly, this only took about 3-5 minutes, and I was using cool-ish water. It varies from color to color, but it's pretty obvious and the colors stay true to what you see there.
The skein can then be wrapped in plastic wrap and the dye has to be set. I have found two ways to do this...you can steam it or microwave it. I chose to microwave it on high for about 4 minutes. They say that if you microwave, it should be in one that you don't use for food preparation, but I think that is more for the acid dyes than for kool-aid. This isn't a problem at my house, but it may be a concern for you. If you do choose to steam, be sure and line the steamer basket with newspaper so the plastic wrap doesn't melt to the metal of the steamer. With the steaming method, it should take about 30 minutes.



After setting the color, be careful because the plastic is very hot. I unwrapped my skein and let it sit out to cool on its own. When it's cool, rinse with cold water until the water runs clear. Amazingly, I never had any color rinse out of this skein. Even on the very first rinse! I was so surprised! Now, I have discovered that a bit of time in the dryer removes the fruity smell. I have put some of my kool-aid dyed yarn in a mesh bag and thrown it in there for a few minutes, but be sure your yarn is superwash before attempting this :) I took this yarn and made the hats that I talked about here. The dyeing was so fun, easy, and and really colorfast. I didn't re-skein this, but you could get it to be more striping if you re-wound it into a really long skein first, therefore dyeing longer sections at a time but still having enough room to dye more than one color.

Now, to be completely off topic, I had a request for my finished puzzle picture. Yes, June, I was going to post it, but the picture wasn't on my laptop yet. Thank you so much for reminding me! Just for you, here is the completed puzzle...a thing of beauty!

Dyeing, knitting...catching up!

I know that I haven't been much of a blogger lately, but I have been busy nonetheless! I have been working on perfecting my dyeing and knitting skills. My first project was a kool-aid dye experiment with sock yarn. Here's what I have left of my 500 yards :)

I was very pleased with how it turned out and I subsequently used it to make two hats. As you can see here with my very first fair isle, I think you are looking at strawberry, pink lemonade, lime, orange and grape LOL. I will be making a separate post about the kool aid dyeing process itself. It was really fun! The only thing to remember is that your project will smell like kool aid for awhile!















The fair isle hat is a blended version of two different hats in the book Hats On by Charlene Schurch.

My next hat with this yarn was a modified version of the free In A Flap Cap that that I found on ravelry. I added a ruffle around the edge an then put a flower on it as well. Doesn't it look so cute on Mallory?!















So then, moving right along...I have also been dyeing using Louet's Gaywool Dyes and I am enjoying the results of those as well. Here's what I have done so far. This is merino superwash, fingering weight yarn. The one on the left is kool aid, the other two are Gaywool. It's so fun! All the yarn I have used to dye so far is from Knit Picks, the bare yarns that they sell to dye. They turn out pretty well, and I would recommend them for small dyeing projects.


Now, as I mentioned before, I am wanting to get some experience with knitted items that I have not done before. So, I started a guernsey sweater for my younger brother. It is exposing me to several unknowns, the first being the cast on that I used...Channel Island cast on. It's supposed to make something like a picot edge and it did, but I am not that thrilled with it.


The details are difficult to see, I know, but it will be easier once I have it completed and he tries it on. I only have a little bit of this sleeve and then on to the second sleeve! I am using a basic guernsey pattern from Knitting in the Old Way by Priscilla A. Gibson-Roberts. So, that's what I have been up to lately...at least what is worthy of mentioning here, lol. Please forgive me for the length of time between posts (especially you knitting gals from B&N!). I hope to be a lot more consistent in the future :)

Be sure not to miss The Complete Jane Austen going on right now on PBS. They just aired Persuasion this Sunday and it was fabulous! They are showing so many great classics, you have to see them! The versions of Persuasion, Northanger Abbey, Mansfield Park and Sense & Sensibility are all brand new adaptations. Here's the schedule for these exciting films!

Merry Christmas, new projects!

Firstly, you have to see Bailey's newest fashion addition. She has a new collar and collar jewelry. Isn't she stylin'?! She posed so perfectly for this picture that I couldn't resist.

So, onto life. We have been celebrating the holidays in our own way here at the Thornton's house. We watch our Christmas movies, and beginning about 10 days before Christmas day, we start opening one gift a night. I haven't opened too many, but the little kids all love this tradition. I have gotten some spectacular gifts so far this year. I have already shown you some yarn I got, but here's more!

They are both called "Mermaid" and one is fingering weight, the other is laceweight. I think I will make a lacy scarf with the laceweight and still unsure what I'll do with the fingering weight...socks maybe?

















I have frogged the socks I was working on for my mom (she wasn't that thrilled with the color and neither was I), and started something with my new yarn. A scarf! It's the one I talked about in one of my previous posts by Noro and it's working up beautifully! I can't wait to see it all washed and blocked. The pattern is wonderfully simple and free, so how can you go wrong? I am working on size 1 needles, but I am so loving the result, that it's worth the tiny stitches :) I am all done with my Christmas knitting list, so it's nice to be working on something for me. I do feel a bit selfish, but I love this scarf!!

I have been so busy knitting that I have been neglecting my puzzle, but I promised to post about it, so here it is!

Now, I know it doesn't look like much, but all that sky at the top was a challenge! Now just to finish the 50 odd people that are skating on that pond...whew!

Now, I don't know how many of you follow this but last weekend was the Target World Challenge (it's a golf tournament for those who may not know). It was also the first tournament that Tiger Woods has played in 11 weeks. So, it was a very exciting weekend, especially since he won! Golf is so great to knit by, nothing better. You can have the time to look down at your project if you need to and not miss what's going on, but there is still something interesting enough to occupy your time. Tiger is taking more time off from golf and won't be playing again until the Buick Invitational on January 25th. I will just have to make do until then :)

I am really getting interested in making handpainted/hand dyed yarn.I have loved knitting with it and think it would be so fun to create my own colorways! We went to Barnes and Noble the other day and picked up the book The Yarn Lovers Guide to Hand Dyeing. It has some interesting techniques in there that I am eager to try, this will be so fun! I will chronicle my first attempt for you all to see...Hopefully it turns out well, lol.

Well, I am off to work on my scarf some more. Happy holidays!!

Thanksgiving Lapbook and other ramblings

Well, as I promised, here are the lapbook pictures. Didn't they do a wonderful job on this one?! We all had a really good time working on it. It's one of the many lapbooks from Live and Learn Press. They have several free ones (they refer to them as Learn 'N Folders), you should go check it out!

We have now put up cork board in our dining room and it has quickly been filled with drawings of all different Christmas themed pictures. Isn't this a beautiful sight?! :)

We have had a lot of fun with that. There is even a crayon drawing of mine up there, but I will leave it at that, lol. I have had a chance to get somewhere on my puzzle, here's what we've got so far:We always do a Charles Wysocki puzzle during Christmas/winter time. This one will eventually look like this. I love Charles Wysocki's artwork and it's so fun to put these puzzles together!

I have entered a contest over at the Lady knits, you need to check it out! Lots of goodies to give away!

I have also decided to join June's great idea of the Pay-it-forward exchange. Here's the low down: I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.

So there you have it! Won't this be fun?!

I will end this post with a picture of the cutest little blue merle sheltie you could ever want to see!

Update!! Finally!!

First thing's first...please, PLEASE, please forgive my lack of blogging this past month. Time has just gotten away from me and I have been a horrible blogger...so sorry!! Now to catch you up on things- I finished the purple-y socks for Mackenzie, but cannot show you a picture just yet since I have already wrapped them. For those of you who saw the yarn as a work in progress in the last post, however, I will provide the details.

Yarn: Patons Kroy Socks, Winter Eclipse (75% Washable wool, 25% nylon)
Needles: Size 2 harmony circulars
Pattern: Basic toe-up sock, sized down for a child

Since my last post I also started and finished a pair of socks for Mallory and here they are.


The details are:
Yarn: Fiesta colorway, 100% superwash merino by Black Bunny Fibers
Needles: Size 1 circulars (harmony needles...gorgeous!)
Pattern: A child-sized variation (by me) on the toe-up sock by Wendy

I know that Mallory is really going to enjoy these. She kept coming up with excuses to try them on...just for fun of course :) I still have to wrap these and might put them in her stocking. The lucky thing about her being the youngest is that, since she's the smallest, it's so much easier to make things for her! So, thus ends the Christmas list of things I wanted to complete. I can't believe I made it! I have started a pair of socks for my mom, but my tendonitis is acting up again and I have been forced to set them down for a while. I am fathfully blue ice-ing it twice a day, so I expect speedy recovery!! So, here are her socks...toe-up of course.

Now on to other things. I have already gotten to open a couple of gifts for Hanukkah and they have been delightful! One of my gifts was this beautiful yarn. Both fingering weight, 100% superwash merino. It's kind of hard to see, but the one on the left is a blend of purples and greens, Gem Stones by Poppy Flower Fibers . The one on the right is a blend of greens, blues, and purple called Evening Forest. They are both 500 or more yards each! I am using the Evening Forest to make myself the Noro Silk Garden scarf.I saw it worked up at our LYS and fell in love! I think it will look awesome with a handpainted yarn like this.


I have been working on our annual Christmas puzzle and finally finished it. We always have one of Charles Wysocki's paintings and they are wonderful! Anyway, I finally finished this one two pieces short. ARGH! Oh well, I guess that's what I get for buying it at a yard sale, LOL. Fortunately we have 2 others and I have just started one of those. Here's the "before" pic and i will post updates as I progress :)







Ok, now last but not least in my personal news is something rather dramatic.



My sister Aubrey and I went and got a new piercing! We both got one of our Tragus' pierced, and for those of you who might not know...that's the flap of cartilage that you would press on to cover your ear and say "I'm not listening!", lol. I am so pleased with the outcome and it is healing nicely. I would prefer a smaller hoop, but that will have to wait a couple more weeks at least :)





So, there you have it folks. I will be posting the kids latest lapbook soon. It's their Thanksgiving project and it's mighty impressive, even if I do say so myself.

Lapbooking, knitting, and jewelry

First of all, let me apologize for the delay in my posting. Among other things, we have gotten a case of the sniffles, sore throat, coughing thing amongst our family that is not bad enough to do much damage, but enough to make you feel icky all day. I've been loading up on the Emergen-C so hopefully that will help. Well, onto other news, I received my blog contest prize the other day! Isn't it beautiful?! It even came with a wonderful packet of lavender blossoms. It's heavenly! Thanks Carol!! I can't wait to see how it knits up...but I am not touching it until I can actually work up a pair of socks with it. I finished the orange boucle scarf and sent it off to it's Christmas recipient: my sister-in-law :) She and my brother live in Hawaii but are spending all of December in France, so she will be able to use it then. I will have her take a picture of herself modeling it and will post that asap, i promise!



Right now I have begun (again) Mackenzie's socks. It's wonderful to be knitting socks once more. I am finally able to do some knitting without the wrist brace and its so freeing! I still have at least 2 pairs to do after I finish these so I am really trying to get after it. I am doing these toe up once again and it's going well so far. It looks a lot like blue in this picture but there's also quite a bit of purple in this yarn. Purple is her favorite color and she adores this yarn. Fortunately, her feet aren't very long at all for a girl her age. She wears a size 2 1/2 and she's 12.


Now I know I mentioned this a couple of posts ago, but the littles and I got their Halloween lapbook done by Halloween! I promised pictures for those of you who don't know what a lapbook is, so here you go!

Here is the front of one of them. As you can see, they go all out with the decoration and stickers :) Now there are 4 pages in this particular book to accomodate all the things we made to go inside.









Here's the first 2 pages. There is a recipe for English Soul Cake, a Halloween timeline pop-up book, Halloween Symbols and their meanings, and a recipe for Mexican Bread of the Dead :)











The last 2 pages have a map with details of how people around the world celebrate Halloween differently, a book of pumpkin facts, a pouch with their favorite candies written inside, and last (but of course not least, lol) a skeleton put together with brads.

So, there you have it...a lapbook! The are so many really great things about lapbooks:

-The kids remember what they are learning because it's integrated into a craft project

-The information is broken down into manageable chunks to make several different little books

-They are able to have a wonderful time decorating and expressing their creativity

-They return to the books they have made time and time again, cementing the knowledge they have gained.

-They have something that they can show off proudly to Daddy or company about what they have learned.




Bailey got a bath today, and she's getting so pretty and fluffy. She will be one year old on the 15th and they say that a sheltie's coat will continue to get filled out until they are about 18 months old.

I'm stuck on the computer lately playing a new game. It's Luxor 3, and I bought it as an early Christmas gift for my mom, but I have gotten addicted to it too. You have to try it, but be warned! It's too much fun!! :)


I have been thinking pretty seriously about trying to make money off of what has previously been a hobby of mine; jewelry making. Here's one of the sets I have made so far. I am still looking into all the legal stuff and I would really like to be able to sell online, but it would be nice to have some that I could sell for consignment maybe. Anyway, I have a few things already made but I am not wanting to think about it all going forward until after the holidays. What do you guys think? I have pictures of some of my other things here.

Well, this has been a very long post, but I had quite a few things to catch up on :) Have a great weekend everybody!

Knitting again!

Welcome me back to the land of the knitting! :) Last night was my first knitting in almost 2 weeks...it's been tough! I only worked on my project for about 30 minutes, but it was still wonderful to have the needles back. I am working on the orange boucle scarf that I talk about
here.

On another note, Bailey has yet another new outfit! Here she is in her new pink coat. Isn't this SO cute?! She wasn't too terribly fond of it, but I love the fur trim on the collar. It's just too adorable!

The kids and I are finishing up the lapbook on halloween today. We got everything all cut out and prepared on Friday, so we should be done today.

Oh, by the way, my mom is doing a giveaway, so be sure to head over to her blog and check that out. She's giving away some handspun (some alpaca and some merino) as well as a book on slip-stitch knitting.

I got myself a new cd the other day that is awesome! It's by Emmy Rossum, who you may know as Christine Daae in Phantom of the Opera. She has an awesome voice and her style is somewhere between Enya and Imogen Heap. I would highly recommend checking out her album, Inside Out. Here's one of her songs...her first music video from the new album (released on the 23rd).

Argh Matey!!

Well, the wrist brace is off and I am on my way back to normal life...hopefully :) I haven't actually started knitting again, but we're closer! It's difficult to replace knitting in your life. I was totally unprepared for it! What do you do when you would normally be knitting?! I have gotten some reading done, but I am mostly just worrying over the Christmas gifts that aren't getting done as Christmas creeps ever closer. I have gotten a lot completed in anticipation of the holidays, at least compared to last year, lol. I still have my knitting bag out of sight, but I can feel my strength returning and my project ambition is as high as ever.

On a more exciting note, I won a contest! I never win contests, and I am so thrilled at the prize...yarn! I was over at Carol's blog and she had a contest where you could guess the number of days until she received a job offer that she accepted. So, I guessed 49 and I was right! :) Here's the post and there is a picture of the yarn. I chose the purple-y one (sorry Suzanne!) and can't wait to make some socks with it! Isn't it gorgeous?!



I was at Wal-Mart the other day and couldn't resist this dog costume for Bailey. Isn't she adorably piratey?! She lost the hat immediately after this photo, but she contentedly left the little dress on all day.










I am loving this weather, aren't you? It's finally raining, and it's finally fall! Well, the kids and I are going to make a lapbook for Halloween so I had better hurry up and print it out, cut it out, and do that with them :) Will post pics of that when we have actually completed it.

Fall leaves and knitting woes

I am really bummed out today-I can't knit! I have tendonitis in my right wrist and it has really flared up since this weekend. I spent most of the weekend knitting non-stop on a gift that had to be finished (I did finish, by the way), then spent Tuesday morning at our knitting class that my mom and I teach, then by Tuesday night at our weekly knitting group meeting I was sore...but knitted anyway...so I think it was just a bit too much. So, I am trying to avoid my knitting at this point and give my wrist a rest. I had my knitting bag open earlier and the UFOs (Unfinished Objects) were calling to me so I had to put them out of sight. Zip the bag, put it away. I can, however, show you what I would be working on if I could be :)

First off is a boucle scarf. I think the colors are beautiful and the knitting turns out to be more of a fabric/felted look than actual knitted stitches. Its going pretty fast and I love it.

Next is a pair of toe up socks I have just barely started, as you can see. These are the third of six pairs I have to get done before Christmas :) Now you understand why I am so irritated about knitting time lost!





For the past week I have been working on a paper leaf garland. I have made one before, about 5 years ago, and it turns out so beautifully that I had to make another one. As you can see from the picture, I have traced a leaf shape onto different colored cardstock. I then traced another leaf shape on the inside and have yet to cut all those out with a paper cutting knife. I have 12 leaves of each color, then the inner leaves will double that number. The garland should be long enough...I hope! It takes a while, and it is tedious, but the end result is well worth it. Once I get a few more completed I will post more pictures.

Knitting and patterns

First things first- finished socks! Well, almost finished. As you can see, the one is still on the needles. I am waiting for Aubrey to come home and try them on so I can know if this bind off method is stretchy enough for socks or not. But, don't you just love the way the yarn patterned itself? I am really pleased with it. OK, details:

Yarn: ONline Supersocke (Sunset Colorway, #830)
Needles: Size 2 circulars
Pattern: (Stitch pattern) Yarrow Rib Socks from Vintage Socks, (Sock pattern) Toe up with slip-stitch heel by Wendy.
Started: September 30
Finished: October 11

This toe-up sock pattern came out really easily and eliminated some of those lingering issues that I have when I make socks. For one thing, I never know just where to start toe decreases since I rarely make socks for the same person 2 pairs back to back. This made that such a non-issue, I am definitely doing my next pair toe up as well. Another huge benefit (one which is solely psychological, of course) is that after finishing the foot of the sock it feels like you're home free! You just fly around and around to the top of the cuff. I even had extra yarn with these and there went that "am-I-going-to-have-enough-yarn" stress! So the benefits of toe up were practically endless for me! :)

The past few days have been spent printing patterns that my mom and I have had but never got around to printing. We bought binders, dividers and labels and I spend this morning finishing up all the pattern organizing. Its so awesome! I put the patterns in page protectors and divided them up by topic. I can't wait to try and find a pattern now! :)

Goodbye Leg warmers- Hello Socks!

The anticipated day has finally arrived! I have finished the leg warmers! Actually, I finished them yesterday morning, but have been so busy starting my new project that I couldn't blog. Doesn't Mallory look adorable in these? They fit her great and I can't wait to give them to her...of course, she still doesn't realize she's modeling her own gift. They should fit her for a while, hopefully I added enough extra length. After restarting them several times, I was very ready to have them finished!

Details:

Yarn: Patons Decor #1620
Needle size: Sz. 7 circulars
Pattern: My own design
Started: Sept. 13, Finished: Sept. 30

I wasn't very pleased with this yarn. It's 25% wool and 75% acrylic which makes for a lot of pilling...the knitter's nightmare! It wasn't too bad to work with though and it's great for the purpose.



On to my newest project- my first toe-up socks! I love the yarn, it's so fun to work with. You never get bored of the color and variations. It's ONline Supersocke and I talk more about it here. These are for my sister, Aubrey (who has a womens size 9 1/2 foot) and I wanted to make sure I utilized every bit of yarn that I could. Hence, the decision to go toe-up! so far, so good, I am past the toe increase shaping now and onto the foot pattern. She only wants a simple rib pattern (thank goodness!) so I think that I can handle that along with going at these backwards. Oh, and of course, I am doing them two at a time on two circulars...I am spoiled to it! What can I say? I got the stitch pattern from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush. It's the Yarrow Ribbed Sock. The toe up pattern is the Fingering weight, toe up, slip-stitch heel sock from Wendy Knits. It's a free pattern, so it's legal for me to include the above link :) I am really enjoying these socks, and have been anticipating starting them for several days now. Yay!

This weekend was the President's Cup...more time for knitting while watching golf! The perfect combination. It's enjoyable to watch because the field is limited and all my favorites are playing. Tiger Woods, Adam Scott, Retief Goosen, Ernie Els, Vijay Singh and Steve Stricker. Of course, most of my favorite players are on the International team, but it's great to see the U.S. team win! It's the first time that we have won on foreign soil since 1993, so- go team U.S.!

New yarn, again!

I wasn't necessarily planning on this, but I bought more sock yarn yesterday! I guess June and Cat (Girls from my knitting group) are starting to rub off on me :) Anyway, we headed off to our LYS (Local Yarn Store for those of you non-knitters out there) last night and I ended up with the most beautiful sock yarn. It's ONline Supersocke #830 and if you look at this picture, you can see the awesome pattern it makes (it's the top one on the left). I can't find a picture of the other one so I will just have to post pics as I progress. I was intending to buy some yarn for the socks that I am making for my sister Aubrey (she's 21), but they had an actual sock knitted up with a different colorway of this same brand, and I fell in love! Darn that effective marketing strategy stuff! So, now I have a pair of socks in the knitting queue for Aubrey and myself...what am I to do?! Aubrey is anxious for her socks and I am anxious to work with some new yarn so I will be doing hers next!

Now, onto the legwarmers! I am almost done and so happy about it! I tried them on Mallory last night while she was asleep because she is a very sound sleeper. It worked like a charm! Why haven't I done this with every "secret" project before this?! I think I have about 2 more inches to go, then on to the ribbing, then I am done! I know she will love these and wear them out so I want to make them long enough to last for awhile. I am going to make the ribbing long enough to fold down as well. I will be finishing these today *fingers crossed*, so you should be seeing them completed and modeled by some child very soon!

Last night, my mom bought a quilt pattern to make me as a Christmas gift and I am so excited about it! It's so cute, and I love it. You have to go see it here. I love the little turtles and it will look so perfect on my bed. Isn't my mom the greatest?!

Poor Bailey, all this blogging
really wears a girl out! ;)

Knitting class!

Well, thank goodness for Marm remembering the camera this morning! I was able to get pictures of our knitting class this morning to share with you! Don't they all look happy?! So far we are working on a basic garter stitch swatch that is turning into a scarf for some of the faster knitters in the group. Pictured here are the girls of the class. Left to right: Mackenzie, Kelsey, Morgan and Mallory. Mallory is my youngest sister, the one I am making the legwarmers for. I can also not deny Mackenzie (12) and Kelsey (9)...We have been working on the knit stitch for 3 weeks now and will be progressing (Hopefully!) to purling next week. Everyone is doing so well and we are so proud of them!




Here are a couple of the guys in our group, Zach and Hunter. Zach is my brother, he's 10 and getting pretty good with his knitting technique! The thing we have noticed with the boys is their tendency to knit so tightly that you can't slide the
stitches along the needles! This may be common with other new knitters, but so far we have really only dealt with the boys on this. As you can tell, they're having a really good time here, lol.








This is Joseph, with his mom and my other brother Levi (9). Well, that's the whole gang! We knit for an hour at our home-school coop and it's been a great success so far. I will keep updating as our projects progress- Keep your fingers crossed! And as Hunter says, "Knitting Rocks!" ;)

A side note- I am so incredibly excited that Josh Groban (one of my all time faves) is releasing a Christmas album! I have said it for years now that he should- his voice is perfect for Christmas songs- but he finally decided to listen to me and do it this year. YAY! I can't wait!

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New yarn and unschooling/child-directed learning

First things first...new yarn!! Isn't it all gorgeous?! As some of you may have read, I mentioned in my last post that I was struggling with trying to find sock yarn for the many sock recipients at my house. A wonderful, gracious friend from our knitting group supplied me with this wonderful bounty of sock yarn! My mom and I went to visit June yesterday and had a wonderful time. We knitted and talked spinning and yarn for a couple of hours. Is there anything better?! It almost made up for us missing knitting group at B&N this week. Ladies, we missed you all so much!The only problem I am facing now is, I want all this great yarn for myself! LOL You will be seeing projects from this yarn very soon I am sure.

Speaking of which, I am motoring along with my legwarmers, trying to be able to use some pretty yarn for another project. I know it's not very appreciative of me, but I am tired of this
plain blue yarn...Anyway, I worked on these all last night during a movie (Errol Flynn's Robin Hood) and I think I have made some headway.
It feels like I am getting nowhere on this project after doing a couple of pairs of socks! After discovering that the ribbing at the top of these was too big, I was despairing of ever getting them to fit right...Lo and behold, my mom came to my rescue in suggesting that I just make the existing ribbing be at the bottom instead. What a great idea! I don't know why, but it had never even entered my mind...As you cans see, I am still working on my thinking-out-of-the-box skills :)

So, onto the non-knitting part of my life (is there such a thing? LOL), we have been busy with our homeschooling activities this week. We went with our history club to Greenville, KY on a field trip to learn about coal mining. We had a good time, and I think the littles all learned a lot.
As you may already know, our homeschooling style runs toward unschooling. If you don't know what unschooling is, here's a brief description- Unschooling is really child-directed learning in which the child follows their own interests, learning what they are interested in! We direct the interests of our littles, but we don't put age limits or grade limits on them...basically allowing them to focus on anything they want. It's so amazing how this works, because you would assume that children would naturally shy away from educational activities but the opposite is actually true! We have them picking up their math workbooks all by themselves, they play with the
globe, they quiz each other on math facts or music notes all on their own. In short, they learn what they need to, but on their own timetable, when they have a desire to learn it- therefore, they remember what they learn. It's not traditional, but it works for us and I love it. I wanted to share this great example of a project that Kelsey (9 yrs.) did while "playing" :) We try to make all the resources available for them to use, then let them use them at will. It's amazing how much a child learns while they are having fun! I have another blog that has resources for unschooling that we have found including websites, books, movies, etc. I am slowly adding to it as I come across things that we use and enjoy. Anyway, that's a part of our lives that you are now a part of! :)


I have to share this adorable picture of my mom's chihuahua, Bisou...he happens to be in Bailey's bed and it's way too big for him! LOL Isn't he the cutest?!

Rainforest Cafe

I took this picture when we went to the Rainforest Cafe in Nashville last week. I loved how it turned out, the colors are so vibrant. Had to share it!

Tiger, Cables and Laundry

I am so jazzed tonight...Tiger won the FedEx Cup! My mom and I watched the tournament this weekend, and it was beautiful up there on our new Tv :) We always root for Tiger and this weekend he was on fire. He beat the runner up by 8 points, it was a blast to watch, and there was much cheering here at our house.

Watching golf is a great time for knitting, and I have run into my fair share of woes with these blasted legwarmers. I mentioned in my last post that I was practicing cables on them and I did get to do that. I was really displeased with the texture of the cables however, and have now decided to just do stockinette stitch the whole way. I feel pretty good about my first cables, though and am encouraged to try them again someday. So, I have begun the legwarmers once again and am doing them two at a time...like I love to do :)

It's hard to believe that the weekend is almost over. The weather has been so wonderful and fall-like that I am totally getting into the fall mood of things. I know this week is supposed to get warmer -in the 80's all week - and I will miss these cool temperatures. This Tuesday is homeschool coop once again and knitting class! We will see how much our students have done over the week. This ought to be interesting! :) I am hoping to remember to take the camera and get pictures for all of you out there in blogland, we'll see!

I got my Knit Picks order yesterday and that was exciting! My yarn ended up being significantly darker than the website portrayed, but I still like it and will be using it for my Tomten. I also ordered the beautiful colored wooden needles and I love those! I am starting a pair of socks for Aubrey, as soon as I finish the legwarmers, of course :)

I finally cancelled my Ram Wools order after 2 months of waiting for my self striping sock yarn to finish up a pair for Mackenzie and Zach. I ended up going to Knitting Warehouse and getting almost the same yarn. Hopefully their supply is more ample than at Ram Wools, lol. Wish me luck!

I have gotten stuck in a book series and I am so involved...it's been hard to put it down. It's the Alosha Trilogy by Christopher Pike. I only started last night and finished one of the two books written so far in the series, but now I am in the middle of the second and can't wait to read the rest! It's so hard to read and knit at the same time. It's pretty tricky to find books big enough to lay open in your lap - on their own, lol.


Oh, and Bailey loves laundry time. She is such a big help...what would we do without her?! :)

Catch up

This post is dedicated to June who gave me a very pointed look at B&N Tuesday night when speaking of "those people" who only post to their blogs once a week...June, this one's for you, girl-

So, life has been hopping this week and we have been running around more in this one week than we have in forever! Our homeschool coop started this week and my mom and I are teaching a knitting class for 5th and 6th graders. That was pretty interesting, lol but they all did very well and I can see that they will be ready to move on to purling pretty quick. The coop meets every Tuesday morning from 8:45 until about 1:00 so thats a pretty full day. Then, of course, Tuesday night is our B&N knitting group. My mom and I have been so blessed to get to know the wonderful women involved with this group and they have made us feel very at home here in Kentucky. We have more fun every week, with every opportunity to get to know them all better- Thanks KY Knitting ladies! :)

Yesterday we got our TV replaced, and my mom and I hooked it all up. It looks great! My dad also got a new HD DVD player and it is the ultimate in coolness! Of course, right now we only have one HD DVD (Superman) so we're all Superman-ed out by this point, LOL.
We have been without our beautiful TV for about 6 weeks now and it's so wonderful to have it back with us once more. Conveniently, I have just bought the new Tiger Woods PGA Tour '08 XBOX 360 game, just in time to play it in HD...there's nothing better! It has this new feature that enables you to take a photo of yourself, upload it to the EA Game's website, and then the game creates a player based on your photo. It's so realistic, it's kind of scary! I am having a blast doing all that and trying to get away with playing XBOX as often as I can. Just FYI, it's not very productive to knit and play XBOX at the same time-for your knitting OR your game ;)

Today, we went down to Nashville to exchange some shoes. We had lunch at the Rainforest Cafe with all the littles and it was a lot of fun. Of course, we were seated in the corner of the restaurant that houses all the monkeys and apes...who happen to all start screaming and howling about every 15 minutes, LOL. We did have a great time though and I did have the opportunity to work on my newest project during the drive there and back.

Speaking of projects, before going into my new one...I finished Kelsey's Christmas socks a couple of weeks ago but just haven't put any pics online yet-so here they are!






They fit her very well and I am pleased with the finished product. You can't really see very well from the photo, but I used the Diagonal Cross Rib pattern from Interweave's Favorite Sock's book.

Now, on to the newest addition to my OTN (On the needle) universe - legwarmers. Mallory specifically asked for a pair of thigh-high legwarmers to wear when she does ballet in the winter time. I casted on for them yesterday and am doing my first cables!! I feel like a real knitter now!! As Karen from knitting group would say, I am finally freeing my "inner knitter" :)

I got a Ram Wools order the other day- that's always so fun! I ordered some alpaca yarn for a scarf for myself (who knows when I will start that?) and the blue yarn for these legwarmers. The alpaca is so beautiful...I got the color called "Camel". The only drawback is that I either didn't look very thoroughly at the description, or they did a very poor job at describing it- at any rate, it's a lot lighter weight than I anticipated and I will probably have to buy a bit more. Ah well, I can use that as an excuse for another order later. A "while I'm here..." sort of thing :)

I am slowly whittling down my Christmas Knitting Queue...let's see, I still have these legwarmers, 2 more pairs of socks for the littles (I am still waiting on that yarn from Ram Wools! Argh!), and a pair of socks for Aubrey...so far! I've never started on Christmas gifts this early in the year before, so we'll see how successful I am at getting it all done! I can't start Aubrey's socks without a pair of #1 circular needles so I had to order some of those beautiful wooden ones from Knit Picks. Who can resist that advertising?! Oh and "while I was there" I got my Tomten yarn for the knit along our knitting group is going to be doing later this year. I chose Marine Heather, isn't the color wonderful?!

The weather is perfect now that we have our air conditioning fixed..of course :) This weekend is the FedEx Cup finale tournament (which I am following very closely...GO Tiger!), we have our TV back (the better to watch golf with) and I am working on a new knitting project...ahhh, life is good after all.

How The Lord Of The Rings should have ended

I laughed so hard when I watched this video...it's so true! As much as I love Lord of the Rings, this was such fun to watch. There are a lot of other videos like this at www.howitshouldhaveended.com. Check it out!

No A/C, no TV, but I got those fingerless gloves finished!

Well, that post heading pretty much says it all. We still have no air conditioning, our big screen TV has been broken for about 5 weeks now (still waiting on the one the warranty people have sent to replace it), but, yes...here are the fingerless gloves!


If you were at B&N on Tuesday night, you probably heard me refer to the gloves that my youngest sister, Mallory was going to get for Christmas. Well, I bought the yarn and the are finished. I can also proudly say that they are my very own design...my very first original design. OK, so they're not all that complex-but I love the way the look and they fit her like, well, a glove! ;) I decided on a knit 1 purl 1 rib at the top, then knit 3, purl 2 rib for the remaining length of the gloves and it worked out perfectly. I didn't have to decrease at all even though above her elbow measures 6 3/4" and her wrist is 5". That's my kind of project! :) I think my mom is going to crochet a small lace edging on them to add the finishing touches. Isn't she the best?! More pictures will follow as soon as that is completed.

Mallory loves these gloves and has somehow still not realized that they are really for her...so far, so good! By the way, how can a slim little girl like her have such chubby fingers? LOL

So, I have some money and I just have to get new yarn for the Tomten KAL that our knitting group is starting soon. What a shame! :) I have been dying to make one since I saw the one Jared made over at his blog. He makes me so jealous with his insane knitting ability! Well, I must have just the right yarn...Knit Picks here I come!!

Rain, rain DON'T go away!

It rained today for about 30 minutes and it was wonderful! I have missed it so much! Our poor plants are so thirsty and our front lawn has really suffered. It was wonderfully cool this evening and we all went out to work on our playground which is coming along very nicely...pictures up soon! The kids are so enjoying that, it has morphed into a ship with swing sets coming out of it. My uncle is here working on our remodeling projects as well as the playground-today he made an anchor, put on the helm and a telescope up in the crows nest. It's basically everything you would ever want to use your imagination in play, which is perfect!

My socks are coming along nicely although I had to frog them a couple of days ago because I wasn't pleased with the way I continued the pattern after the heel flap. I am happier with them now but it seems to be so slow as I work toward the point where I left off last time :) I ordered 4 different colors of this self-striping yarn from Ram Wools about a month ago and I got 2 of them, but they told me that the other 2 would be back ordered and ready to ship in 2 weeks. Well, I haven't gotten them yet and I am nearing the end of these socks. As soon as we get our A/C again I will be working on my afghan, but not till then! So, I will have to place another order I suppose :) Alas, what torture! I have already chosen the yarn that I will be using for Mallory's legwarmers. She showed me some baby blue, thigh high legwarmers out of a ballet catalog that she wants so I will be working on those. Fortunately for me, she has thin legs, lol.

I haven't done ANY spinning since we started all our projects in the house and am so looking forward to that. I helped my mom buy 3 pounds of fiber for her birthday and it arrived today. I am so jealous! It positively screams "spin me!!!". So, as soon as my uncle leaves for home on Saturday evening, we will be finishing things up and then trying to get back to "normal" life :). I am not sure I remember what that is actually!

There is no Frigate like a Book
To take us Lands away
Nor any Coursers like a Page
Of prancing Poetry --
This Traverse may the poorest take
Without oppress of Toll --
How frugal is the Chariot
That bears the Human soul.

-Emily Dickinson-

I have started a new blog! Unschooling, homeschooling resources

I have started a new blog called Resources for Natural Learning
I am going to list helpful and educational resources to help children learn through playing. I hope to give book and movie reviews, game suggestions, fun and educational website suggestions as well. I have already put several posts on there so you might want to go check it out!

Updates on knitting and life in general

Well, I have done it. I finally finished Levi's knee socks! And they fit him perfectly! I am so very pleased with how they turned out, even though I had to take them out a couple of times. I really don't like doing that because it feels like you've really knitted 1 1/2 pairs of socks instead of just 1, lol. Anyway, I am tucking these away for Christmas and have started in on another pair. This time they are for Kelsey and the colors are so much more fun to work with. The name of the yarn is "Crayola" and it describes it wonderfully. I also decided that I was tired of plain stockinette stitch for so long and am using a pattern that I got out of our new book, Favorite Socks by Interweave. It's called Diagonal Cross Rib. I love how it looks a little like cables without having to actually cable. So I have about 5 1/2" done so far and it seems to be going so much faster...I know it's just psychological, knowing that they aren't knee socks makes all the difference in the world! :)




Speaking of cables, I have yet to do any! I am going to embark on the cabling journey very soon though. I have bought my yarn for the Rogue Hoodie and can't wait to make that.

I haven't been working on my afghan at all since our air conditioning is out and its been record-breakingly hot the past few weeks. Today it was 101 at 11:00!

We got a new digital camera and I am so thrilled with it! The coolest thing it does is take panoramic pictures. You take three pictures then it "stitches" them together to make one long pic. It takes a little practice, but I am getting pretty good at it now and it looks like a pretty seamless photo! I will have to take one and put it up here soon...as soon as I perfect my technique :)

I am sorry that it has been so long since I have posted. My mom has been so faithful that you can probably just head over there and see all the latest, but I haven't had the heart to get online much since it's been so very hot outside and inside. My laptop just generates more heat, so I tend to avoid it, lol. I will be better about posting now. I promise! *fingers crossed*

I will close with a poem that really meant a lot to me-

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

-Emily Dickinson-

Random thoughts about knitting, golf, and puppyhood

I know I have been horrible about blogging lately...please pretend you haven't noticed! We are in full swing finish up and put-the-house-back-together mode. We spent all day yesterday painting and moving furniture. I believe that I will be painting our guest bathroom today, as well as the trim and door. Sounds like fun, huh? :) When my Uncle and Danny (my adopted uncle) were here, they built a loft for my bed in our bedroom. I have finally been able to move into that bed and I love it! There is plenty of room for a set of shelves at the head of the bed that hold everything I need as well as a few books that I probably don't need...too many late nights!

I have started re-reading Sense and Sensibility and am in love with it all over again. I have searched and searched for something with the same irresistable charm as the Austen books, but thus far have been unsuccessful. Her writing always makes me want to go back in time :)

For those of you who watched golf this past weekend, I am so thrilled with Tiger's victory! I know I haven't really mentioned it here, but I am a big golf fan and always watch when my favorites are playing. My favorites are Tiger Woods, Adam Scott, Retief Goosen, and Vijay Singh...among others :) This is Tiger's first victory since becoming a father and he has had a dry run since the Wachovia Championship in May so it was wonderful to see him win again.


Now, to the knitting realm. I have put down my stole almost completely as I feel selfish when I work on it, lol. I have focused on the pair of knee socks for Levi and the afghan. I have devoted all of my tv time to the afghan since it is pretty mindless garter stitch, and then everything else I have given over to the socks. I have determined that I don't like the even stripes of this yarn. It's so predictable that I am getting frustrated. Plus the fact that the colors are so drab and boring, but Levi loves them so that's all that matters I suppose!



You may not be able to see in this picture, but I am using some of the new beaded stitch markers that I made the other day. I also have a new creation...a beaded row marker. I love it! I got frustrated with trying to remember what row I was on for my decreases and wanted something pretty to help with that. I saw an idea for something along these lines on someone's blog, so I just modified it to look the way I wanted it to. I know these pics are horrible quality, but I cant ever get my camera to take a good photo of anything that could remotely resemble jewelry. Argh!









I went to take a picture of my socks and Bailey immediately jumped up onto the couch and posed for the camera. I had to take her picture then! Here she is looking gorgeous. I have determined that as soon as all our company leaves and life settles down somewhat, she and I are doing some serious obedience training. She's so sweet and I am perfectly fine with her little 'tudes, but I realized that it's not so overlook-able to other people and some of her little quirks can get annoying when you can't tell her to stop. For example: she thinks that if she barks at something that she wants, you will give it to her...now don't ask me HOW she got that idea, but there it is. Another thing...she is crazy with excitement when she first sees someone until they properly greet her. Now, by properly, I mean that you have to giver her your whole attention for a few minutes and say hi. Now see, to me this is adorable because I would probably do all that anyway, LOL. So, the day has come where puppy and her mommy, have to grow up and face facts. *sigh*

Juggling three knitting projects!

Compared to my mom, I feel pretty pathetic now. Here she is, managing her household (upside-down though it may be right now), working on her knitting projects, blogging, AND making the meals. So, here I am...back in blogland once more. I have been faithfully working on my knitting lately, and they are really moving right along! I finally got my order from Ram Wools and it was so exciting! I got Patons Kroy Jacquard self patterning.


So, I am using the brown/blue/cream yarn for a pair of knee socks for Levi, and I will be using the red for a pair for Kelsey. We bought Sock Wizard software and I used it to generate my pattern. It's so great!

I am knitting these socks 2 at a time on circular needles and I love doing that. It really prevents those one-sock-blues :)






I am also in the middle of my stole, I really hope I will have enough yarn to finish it to the length I want. I am looking for about 5 1/2 feet so we'll see! I am keeping my fingers crossed, and will keep updating online.


Project number three is an afghan for a friend of mine. I have been forbidden to post pictures of it online, but you can see it by clicking here. It getting pretty big and I have discovered the joys and perils of knitting something so large and warm. On a cool evening it's great, but in the heat of the day it's not so great :)

I have gotten the photo book that I ordered from Shutterfly. It's 20 pages of Bailey pictures and I love how it turned out! It would normally have been about $30 and after getting this one, I would do it again! It's bound just like a really hardcover book and the pictures look great!

I am off to continue working on one of my three WIP's. Wish me luck!

Update on knitting projects & remodeling

Sorry that it's been so long since I have posted, we have been hopping over here at the Thornton Household. My uncle came up from Arkansas to work on some remodeling we wanted done in our house. It's going to be great when it's all done, but in the meantime it just makes a huge mess! I have been working on my stole as often as I can invent an excuse to sit down and grab it :) I have had to frog it 3 times, but I finally got the hang of this lace pattern and now it's flying along. I will be posting pictures soon, when I get enough done to actually give you an idea of what it's supposed to look like (and when I can find the camera amidst everything). I got some yarn the other day in Nashville for my rogue hoodie pattern and I can't wait to start that! Of course, now that I am already (selfishly) working on something for me, I think it will be awhile before I start it. I found out last night that my little ballerina sister wants some leg warmers for Christmas. She wants them thigh-high in that classic ballet pink color. I don't think it will be too difficult (especially since she's a short little thing), and I know she will love them. She also wants a wrap around sweater in that same pink, so I think I will put some other colorful project between those two. You can only take so much pink at once, lol. I am still waiting on my self-patterning sock yarn from Ram Wools and I am really looking forward to making socks out of that! I've never done anything with that kind of yarn and it's so exciting!

Of mowing and stitch marker creation

Mowing is something that isn't usually very fun. It's hot, sticky, and you get grass clippings all over yourself, and its very loud. Yesterday, my sister Aubrey and I did the mowing together. We now have 2 mowers, one is a very agile Dixon and one is a very not agile Cub Cadet. So, Aubrey zipped around all the trees and shrubbery with the Dixon and I plodded around and around on the Cub Cadet. It was my first time driving it, and it's so cool! It even has cruise control! actually had a pretty good time with us working on it together and as you can see, the yard looks great! It was very rewarding :) This is the view from our front porch, and that's Levi there in the corner. This is approximately 1/4 of the yard.



Today I worked on making some beaded stitch markers for my mom. I am actually really proud of how well they turned out, even though I wasn't able to do as many as I wanted to. We have seen the beautiful stitch markers that June has, and I was inspired to try some myself. I looked online at all the different methods that people have used to make these, and finally settled on using the circular side of a plain toggle clasp. It worked perfectly, and I think they will safely fit all the needle sizes that we use. So, I feel that the past two days has been pretty productive for me!

Knitting through time and space

There has been a warp in the time-space continuum of my knitting universe. Is there a penalty for bumping knitting projects up in your queue 3, 4, or 5 places? :) I sincerely hope not because, as you are about to read, I would be in big trouble!

You know that purple Shapely Tank that I was working on? I decided that I was displeased with it and not even enjoying working on it anymore so...out it went! So, then I thought, I will start working on that pair of socks for Levi. As I am knitting along happily on the gauge, I was talking to Levi about what he would want in a pair of homemade socks. Turns out he wanted something colorful with stripes, of course- something I have none of! I then decided to go online and I ordered enough yarn to make 4 different pairs of socks: 2 skeins each of the 4 different colors of Kroy Jacquard (Patons) from Ram Wools. While I am waiting for that order to arrive, I think to myself, I will start that hooded sweater pattern that's in my queue! I have been wanting to do that for so long now and I got really excited about it. I bought some purple yarn from a store in Cincinnati recently just for this pattern, so I begin to whip up the gauge. About this time, I thought to look at the pattern and check the yardage requirements-I have 1200 yards...the pattern calls for 1500!! ARGH!

SOOOO...The only thing left on my queue that I could do (without going to buy new yarn) is a stole :) And, I couldn't possible be without a knitting project right now! I could never show my face in polite society again! ;) So I have now taken that same yarn that was intended for the hoodie and am making myself a stole. I knew I would get to that stole, but I didn't know it would be this soon! I took a pattern for a scarf from the Little Box of Scarves by Melissa Matthay and Sheryl Thies. I chose the fern lace wrap pattern and am making it about 3 times as wide as the scarf pattern. I am 2 rows into the pattern and it is turning out very beautifully.

I also bought some yarn today to work on that lap afghan. So, I will be doing those at the same time, I think I will take the afghan to knitting night at B&N because I am planning on doing it plain garter stitch. That will be so easy! No interruptions from chatting!

As far as my spinning, I think I will use that merino for a scarf for myself. I have chosen one, but I might see something I like better between now and then. Who knows, that might not be too far away! :)

I have found a blog that has inspired me to add SEVERAL more things to my knitting queue. I don't even know if anyone needs these items, but who cares! You have to go check out Brooklyn Tweed- Especially if you are a fan of Elizabeth Zimmerman. I am just in awe of all his completed projects and have to have a Tomten Jacket just like his! My mom introduced me to EZ's patterns and we both love her. We went to knitting camp in 2002 and fell in love with her daughter, Meg Swansen, as well.

Great Perseids: Meteor Shower on August 12th

I get updates from NASA Science News in my email every so often and this seemed like one to share. I love meteor showers and will definitely be out there on the 12th!

___________________________________________________________________________

Got a calendar? Circle this date: Sunday, August 12th. Next to the circle write "all night" and "Meteors!" Attach the above to your refrigerator in plain view so you won't miss the 2007 Perseid meteor shower.

"It's going to be a great show," says Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office at the Marshall Space Flight Center. "The Moon is new on August 12th--which means no moonlight, dark skies and plenty of meteors." How many? Cooke estimates one or two Perseids per minute at the shower's peak.

The source of the shower is Comet Swift-Tuttle. Although the comet is nowhere near Earth, the comet's tail does intersect Earth's orbit. We glide through it every year in August. Tiny bits of comet dust hit Earth's atmosphere traveling 132,000 mph. At that speed, even a smidgen of dust makes a vivid streak of light--a meteor--when it disintegrates. Because Swift-Tuttle's meteors fly out of the constellation Perseus, they are called "Perseids."

Note: In the narrative that follows, all times are local. For instance, 9:00 pm means 9:00 pm in your time zone, where you live.

The show begins between 9:00 and 10:00 pm on Sunday, August 12th, when Perseus rises in the northeast. This is the time to look for Perseid Earthgrazers--meteors that approach from the horizon and skim the atmosphere overhead like a stone skipping the surface of a pond.

"Earthgrazers are long, slow and colorful; they are among the most beautiful of meteors," says Cooke. He cautions that an hour of watching may net only a few of these--"at most"--but seeing even one makes the long night worthwhile.

As the night unfolds, Perseus climbs higher and the meteor rate will increase many-fold. "By 2 am on Monday morning, August 13th, dozens of Perseids may be flitting across the sky every hour." The crescendo comes before dawn when rates could exceed a meteor a minute.

For maximum effect, Cooke advises, "get away from city lights." The brightest Perseids can be seen from cities, he allows, but the greater flurry of faint, delicate meteors is visible only from the countryside. Scouts, this is a good time to go camping.

Knitting,spinning dogs, and life

This is my puppy, Bailey Marie, a blue merle sheltie. As you can probably see, one of her eyes is blue. Isn't she beautiful?! She's 7 moths old now and I don't know what life would be like without her :) She's everything I always wanted in a dog- loyal to a fault, (she ran alongside my dad's truck tonight when she saw that I was in the back) sweet and loving, affectionate and very happy. Pets make life all that much better! Oh, and Bailey enjoys my spinning as well ;)



As I mentioned in my last post, I am a member of Dogster. I have thoroughly enjoyed that and they just recently sent me an email informing me that I had a special offer from Shutterfly, who has recently teamed up with Dogster. Anyway, they gave me a free 8.5" x 11", 20 page photo book for free since I have been a member with Dosgter since before June of this year. I have been working on compiling all my photos of Bailey and arranging them in this book. They give you all different kinds of backgrounds, layouts, and options to add text and captions. It's so awesome! So, I am almost done with it and I just have a few more pics to add...I will keep you updated on this (although it is probably not exciting to anyone but me, lol).

Today was my sister, Kelsey's ninth birthday and we all had a very good time. We have a family tradition that the birthday girl (or boy) gets to choose their birthday dinner. Kelsey chose sauteed vegetables and fresh corn. We had a dessert of oreo pie and ice cream :)


My knitting projects are frustrating me right now. I am about 3/4 of the way done with my shapely tank, but I ran out of yarn. So off we go to Hobby Lobby to get some more, and, of course, the dye lot was a teeny bit off. My brilliant mother gave me the idea to change the pattern of the top half of my tank to disguise the yarn color change, and it IS working! The only drawback is that I am doing a seed stitch now, and that takes me about twice as long to knit, lol. Anyway, I am STILL working on that and I am so ready to be done with it. I mentioned before about the pair of Christmas socks I also have on the needles, but to be perfectly honest, I still haven't officially casted on for those. Tuesday night, at our knitting group, I did a gauge swatch. Then I realized that I should've done my swatch in the round...so I took it all out and started again. About 1/3 of the way through that swatch, I realized that my needles weren't the same size so I was totally throwing my gauge off. Since then, I have found the other pair of size 2 needles, but haven't had the heart to start again. :) I am also working on finding that magical measurement of the intended foot x stitches ratio and that's slowing down my motivation as well. Tomorrow, I WILL tackle that!

I am almost done with my Tour De Fleece-fleece :) I have been faithful to spin each day and I am very proud of myself! I am using a double treadle Lendrum wheel and it spins like a dream. Of course, I already had this bit of purple merino about halfway spun up before I started this, so I guess it doesn't really count. I will be starting something new soon and I am excited about that! I have been inspired by Peggy and my other knitting friends to branch out, break free, and otherwise cast all bonds of one-project-at-a-time-itis aside and have more than one project going at a time! You would be proud of me ladies! (and my mom, who has started to at least think about it, lol)

Dogster

For those of you in the blogging world who love to blog AND love your dog, you have to check out Dogster. It's like MySpace for dogs! It's so cute, and really fun to browse through and read about all the different pups. You can make your dog's complete profile, upload up to 10 photos, and even write journal entries for your puppy. Bailey and Angel both have a dogster page, feel free to go over and see them! Oh, and the pups appreciate it if you give them a bone when you visit :) If you sign up, please let me know so I can see your pup's pics!

Stole pattern

I think I may have decided on a stole pattern. Once again, I am not actually starting this project...just planning ahead :) I also have to measure how many yards of yarn I have spun to see if this will work with this pattern. I think its a very beautiful design and I cant wait to work on it! So, I am going to stay motivated to finish my other projects, right? Of course!


Right now I am working on a pair of socks for one of my brothers for Christmas (Levi), and I hope to get a pair done for each of my youngest siblings (5) before then as well. I haven't ever been able to actually accomplish this, but this year I have a new found fervor. I will do it!
(We'll see, lol)

Tour De Fleece Project

I have begun my spinning project for the Tour De Fleece! This is the fiber I am working on (merino) as well as what I have plied so far.I am very thrilled with how it turned out. I am planning on using this for a stole, but we'll see what happens between now and then, lol.

I have had a recent opportunity to experience one of my pet peeves. I cannot abide when one bobbin of singles has more on it than the other! When you ply, you are left with singles on one bobbin and not the other...what is the cure for this malady? Please, someone give me an idea! I was talking to a couple of my knitting friends (Peggy and June) and they mentioned weighing your bobbins before starting to ply to determine that you have an even amount on each. I may have to resort to this method! As you can see, I have a significant amount left on this bobbin, ARGH!

So, I will soon be looking for that stole pattern. It will be my first shawl/stole to make and I am actually pretty excited about it! I will be posting the link to the pattern as soon as I decide on which one I like the best. Of course, if you have looked at my knitting queue, you will know that I have no business thinking about this yet, but a girl can dream, right? :)

The myth of the center-pull ball

I can probably count on one hand the number of times I have successfully found the end of yarn in the center of the center-pull ball. ARGH! I always end up pulling out about 15 yards before stumbling upon that elusive end. Would someone please tell me that I am not alone here?! It's a great concept in theory...this pretty little ball of yarn, but evil lurks beneath that fluffy exterior. Be warned!