Its Tuesday again

And tuesdays mean no work! Sorry for the boring title, I’ve used up all my creativity for the day. I spent a beautiful sunny afternoon sitting by the door looking out into the backyard, spinning some more of the shetland wool. I’ve gotta tell you, this wool just gets better and better. I thought the singles were great, I’m getting much better at keeping it even…but once I plied it the yarn just blew me away – the yarn is soft, squishy, and sproingy – I want to make a nest of it and sleep in it!

The picture doesn’t do it justice – the yarn just filled out once it was plied and…man, what a good feeling. I’ll never get tired of that magic

Each skein is about 90 yds/1.2 ounces, and I have a pound of wool. Now what to make?

While I was spinning, something on the patio caught my eye:

I went out in the backyard to get a better look and saw this guy:

A bunny! Actually, to look at the picture, it looks like an Evil bunny. He’s probably the one who ate all my corn seedlings, which would make sense if he is Evil. Now that I’ve seen him, I guess I’ve gotta get the chicken wire and put it around the garden beds this weekend. Other than the corn that was polished off a few weeks ago, the rest is growing really well – I’ll post pictures this weekend (unless the bunny gets it before then).

Ariann 2 is charging forward – I finished the body up to the where the sleeves join in, and started a sleeve at knitting group tonight. Its my work project, so how far I get (and how fast) will completely depend on how busy we are. This time of year? Anyone’s guess.

Yummy Shetland handspun (and a little bit of lace)

I finished the first bobbin of Shetland wool – so yummy! I’m spinning very fine so each bobbin takes forever…so I’ve abandoned all hope of finishing the second bobbin and plying some skeins tonight. So in lieu of skeins, feast your eyes on my yummy bobbin of goodness:

A little shadowy but still yummy

And since the Celtic Knot Shawl is dragging on, I dug out some silk/cashmere laceweight and started the Alpine Knit Scarf from Victorian Lace Today:

I actually started this two or three weeks ago, but by waiting to show it until now it makes me look like I’m really hauling along on it. I also started a new Ariann sweater in black (using Cascade 220 again) and I’m about eight inches up the body. I’m a knitting machine

Some house pictures

Here are some pictures of the house…please ignore the mess. Somehow the camera was never working when the house was actually clean, which I took as a sign that it wasn’t meant to be.

The living room – the chair with the blue shawl over it has turned into my spinning area.

The kitchen, complete with turquoise countertop (which is growing on me).

Guest room.

My office. Check out the new bike! (More on that later.)

I went to the LYS this morning and spun with a couple women from knitting night. I think I finally got the hang of the double drive wheel! I’m spinning up some white shetland wool and its looking great so far. I’m going to settle in with Season 2 of the Gilmore Girls and my wheel and see how far I get. I have a pound of this wool and no idea what to do with it – I think it may end up sport weight, so maybe I’ll dye some and make some socks.

No sign yet of my wool combs. I ordered them two weeks ago and they weren’t in stock, and they told me they would have more in a week. I emailed them again yesterday and haven’t gotten an answer, which is getting really frustrating. I have enough wool to use in the meantime, but I REALLY want to try this llama. Oh well.

Adam bought a bike this week, which finally got me off my butt and convinced me I need one too. My old bike (that I got from Adam’s mom) was too small and I don’t know when I’ll be able to get it here from NY, so when i do get it shipped down I’ll give it back to her. My bike is a sort of hybrid bike – light with small tires like a road bike, but the tires have a little tread. It has clip-in pedals and special shoes, and its purdy I’m off for a quick ride before it gets dark, then back to spin.

I did it

I finally sucked it up and tore out the Telemark sweater. The downside of steeks? (well, one of many depending on who you ask.) The front and back of the sweater from the sleeves up is not re-usable. Oh well, lesson learned I guess…and luckily it was learned on $2-per-ball yarn.

I got several balls of black and white back, and I also had two balls of white and one of blue left over. I’m knitting almost the same number of stitches, just on smaller needles – so I’m not sure yet how much yarn I’ll need. All part of the fun, I guess.

I found a knitting group! (Have I blogged that yet?) They meet on Tuesday nights at my LYS, and I went tonight for the second time. Great group of women, and its great to get out and meet new people who also like to knit. Tonight I started a second Ariann sweater (in Cascade 200 again, this time in black) and finished the bottom ribbing. Should make for good work knitting, since the pattern is easy to memorize. I also started a new pair of Jaywalker socks yesterday with some Cherry Tree Hill yarn that I’ve been sitting on for a while. The pattern calls for 2.25mm needles and I’m using 2.75 because the socks I made last time are a little tight. They fit well so far, we’ll see how it goes when I turn the heel.

Jake is now sitting on my arms as I try to type, so I guess that means I’m done blogging for now

Re-knitting

Remember the Telemark Sweater from before Christmas? It was way too big because even though I swatched, I swatched for the ribbing instead of the body of the sweater (oops!). The pattern calls for US 5 needles (what I used) for a gauge of 7 stitches/inch, in the Telemark yarn from KnitPicks (also what I used). I checked my sweater, and I got a gauge of 5 stitches/inch – which explains why it came out so big! I swatched again last night with US 3 needles, and got 6 stitches/inch and a much tighter (but OK) fabric. I would have to use at least US 2’s to get the “recommended” gauge! I really like the sweater and I would like it to actually fit, so after a lot of thought I decided I’m going to rip out the sweater and do it over. I learned a lot doing it the first time, and I’m going to take my time and do it the right way this time. I just can’t stand the thought of all this time and work going into a sweater I’ll never wear or use! Plus, since I made a tiny neck on the massive sweater so it would fit, I can’t gift it to anyone else. Its a little heartbreaking to tear all that out, but I think it’ll be for the best.

Phew

They finally posted my results and I passed my National Registry recertification! Thats a relief.

(I took the test Tuesday night, and I almost didn’t make it because the hour and a half that I left early to drive the fifteen miles to the test site weren’t enough. Needless to say I wasn’t in the greatest state of mind to take the test!)

I’ve gone to technology heaven!

When I got to work today, I found out that we were assigned on one of the brand new ambulances – yay! These rigs haven’t been around long enough yet to be spilled on/backed into things/generally abused, they still smell nice, and they drive really well (no adding radiator fluid in the middle of the night in the ghetto in St Petersburg today!). And apparently another bonus…they have wireless internet! I’m not sure exactly how that works but I’m a BIG fan. We’re driving down the road as I write. Technology is cool.

(I shouldn’t get too excited – I’m sure its a mistake and as soon as they realize it they’ll disable the feature. But for now I’m loving it.)

Its (FL) cold tonight and gonna be worse tomorrow, so I busted out my trusty fingerless gloves. They work! I already had someone ask where I bought them, so I guess they came out pretty well. I also finished the second orange cabled sock, so now I need some new portable knitting – I have a ball of Cherry Tree Hill that’s due to become Jaywalkers, and its calling my name.

A one-skein-wonder…almost

I finally found a use for the two extra skeins of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran left in my stash! I L-O-V-E love this yarn, and I was really excited to find a use for it. We worked several late-night fires this week in 45 degree weather (yes, I know thats not actually cold, but give me a break – I’m adapting to Florida) and my hands were freezing…so I found this here pattern on Knitty and now I have myself a snuggly warm pair of fingerless mittens

Pattern: Fetching from Knitty (Summer 2006)
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran in navy blue (more navy than the photo shows), a little more than one skein on US 6 needles

This was a great quick FO, and it will keep my hands warm on chilly nights (well, chilly for Florida at least).

I’ve got a nice long 3 1/2 day weekend…unfortunately its because I’m home sick I went home early yesterday and called in today. On the plus side, Adam’s dad and his girlfriend are in town so calling in today meant I got to hang out here with them. We went to the local market and picked up some great steaks and wine and had a nice dinner, and now I think I’m going to be crashing early. Tomorrow: Home Depot to feed my garden addiction

My dream vacation

How cool would this be?

Not much

Sorry for the lack of posting…i’ve started a half a dozen posts but don’t really have much to say. I’ve been working extra shifts to save money for all the home improvement projects we need to get done, so my non-work time is pretty much taken up with sleeping.

The pool is gross…all algaed and evaporating. I haven’t been able to get a hold of anyone to get a quote for taking it out, and I can’t stand to leave it the way it is so today I filled it back up, started the filter, and this weekend I’ll get some shock for it. Adam’s dad and his girlfriend are coming down this weekend, and I couldn’t stand the thought of them seeing that nastiness

And since we’re having our first houseguests, that means that I officially need to finish unpacking and clean the house. I played electrician this morning (since we finally had a sunny day on my day off) and I finished changing out the gross outlets and switches in the living room and guest room (the last owners painted them ugly colors). Of course with all that work to do today, what happens? I wake up sick. Great. I’m just trying to slowly putter through and get it done. I already warned Adam that I’m leaving him a “honey-do” list for tomorrow

It has been in the 40’s and 50’s in the evenings when I’m working, and we’ve had a lot of rain – which means of course that I’ve had several car accidents, house fire responses, etc (which mean we’re standing outside for an hour or more). I actually busted out a hat yesterday! Gloves are a little much, plus they’re not realistic – but fingerless gloves/mittens are just what the doctor ordered. And I have two skeins of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran in a navy blue, so I can wear them at work and they’ll match my uniform. That sounds like a much more fun project for tonight than cleaning

So thats about it. The beans are growing great, I’ll post pictures this weekend. Unfortunately something around here REALLY likes my corn plants, and the last of them were uprooted and torn up this morning. Its still technically too early to plant corn anyway, and now that I know how well it grows here I’ll put up chicken wire and replant in March or so.

Oh yeah…and a clean house means PICTURES finally Coming up soon.

PS – I somehow can’t figure out to get my pictures to be somewhere between giant and itsy bitsy…working on it.