Covet! Halloween Edition

Happy Halloween! Etsy is full of great Halloween-themed implements and yarns. Being a big geek I love everything skully and gorey. Zombies top the list followed closely by vampires and the rest of the ghoulie family. These skull stitch markers are way too cute, and could help you extend your Halloween celebration into Dios de los Muertos (Nov. 1 & 2). They're from SeeJayneKnits on Etsy along with some great yarn in goblin colors. Enjoy your All Hallows' and Day of the Dead and try not to od on candy.

Radio Transmission

KEXP, the world's finest radio station based in Seattle is having their Fall membership drive. Please donate and help keep the music going - they offer so much to the music community and non-profit organizations that I feel obligated to help. If you are a music lover, then you should too! Besides, if you donate a hundred bucks you get a rad-sauce t-shirt with the radio diagram at left on it. I'm renewing my membership to put my money where my mouth is. This isn't just for the locals, they offer live streaming music on their website as well as traveling to different locations throughout the year and sponsoring shows all over the place. Please help support the radio station where music matters.

Spinning Around

Cheeky Scarecrow Socks
Originally uploaded by zombiegirl1

Yesterday I went over to Jessica's place to learn how to spin. It was incredibly educational and really fun to learn a new fiber-related skill. She sent me home with a spinning wheel, some extra bobbins, and a lot of good advice. The Man was excited just to watch and I felt that I got a bit better with my drafting/twisting action. I can only liken it to what it must be like to learn how to drum - all of that foot and hand coordination. I'm excited to finish up my bobbin, get another one started and ply it together. This is going to be my first spinning/dyeing experiment and I'm looking forward to the finished product. I think this is going to be yet another time-suck, I started spinning once I got set up at home and the next time I looked up it was two hours later. Yikes! Any learn-to-spin horror stories out there? I wonder how other spinners/knitters felt when they first started out?

In FO land I finished up my first pair of socks for me. Yay! Just in time to post for sockburning for Stash & Burn. Specs: Thank Ewe hand-dyed sock yarn (about 60% of the 630 yd ball) on #2 dpns, Cheeky sock pattern from No Sheep for You. I've been wearing them around the house and I do believe I'm a convert to the hand-knit sock cult. Viva la sockolution!

Birthday Booty

squash
Originally uploaded by zombiegirl1

The past couple of days here in the Northwest have been so Autumnally gorgeous I just can't stand it. I feel obnoxiously pleasantly tempered towards everyone and everything, even work. Today the Man and I hit the U-District farmer's market for some hot cider, honey boscs, and antique apple varietals. Delish stuff, and since I'm learning to spin (!) tomorrow I headed on over to the Weaving Works to pick up some roving and of course a couple of skeins for fetching gifts. Today just made me want to kick up my heels and drink up some cider and that's exactly what I'm going to do. Well, kick up my heels onto a stool and do some knitting anyways.
I eluded to some awesome birthday booty in an earlier post so I think I'll just enumerate the goodness here really quick: two books from my bestest gal pal in Norcal( The Abortion by Richard Brautigan and The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger), three skeins of Socks that Rock, an iTunes gift card from the Berd, a Visa gift card from the Mom, the new Elizabeth movie with Wes and Boy Aaron, Harmony interchangeable needles from myself, AND from the Man himself a swift and a ball-winder. So much knitting and reading gloriousness that I'm going to have a heck of a time working through it all. But that's half the fun, huh? Here's best wishes to all of you out there in the blogosphere and hoping that your Fall is as wonderful as mine has been. Cheers!

Covet! Wednesday

This being the first Wednesday post-birthday I have a bit of knitterly news to share, but that can wait for another day. My latest Knit Picks order arrived with yarn for my Modern Quilt Wrap and my metal double-points. I just have to say that those metal dpns are fabulous. I love them so much that I cast on for a sock right away and finished one already. I had to get used to the weight of the needles but besides that they are wonderful and pointy and remind me a lot of piercing equipment. Who wouldn't love that?

I also received Knitting Classic Style by Veronik Avery which is oh-so-pretty. Most patterns in the book are already queued up for someday knits. The book is organized well with good, and sometimes multiple, pictures of each item. It drives me crazy when patterns aren't shown clearly because the model is slouched over or too far away to see the stitch patterns. Not so with this one, the photography is pretty but practical enough to see how it actually fits the model and it also makes me want to move to a rural farmhouse where I can wear my hand-knit sweaters while tromping through the forest or milking my pygmy goats. I love love love the military cardigan and am already looking for a substitute yarn, maybe cascade 220 in a heather color. This is bordering on obsession.

Ghostland Observatory on Late Night with Conan O'Brien

If you didn't get enough the first time. Yeah, droooooool....

Covet! Birthday Edition

Today is my birthday, fluffblay, or earthday depending on who you talk to. Yesterday I was told, "Welcome to your late twenties." Big whoop, none of it counts until you hit thirty and I'm planning a blowout for that one. I've been really really naughty in the past couple of weeks buying yarn like nobody's business but not necessarily casting on like mad. It's made for some good yarn sniffing and fondling and my crutch for all the spending is that it's my birthday month. Why not celebrate? The most recent purchase (as of 5 minutes ago) is Sundara Yarn's new yarn club. I'm really excited as this is my first yarn club, she changed it up from her previous club so it is by monthly subscription rather than a huge chunk of cash for x amount of months of yarn. Also exciting about this is that she gives you the choice of seasonal colors of yarn. I totally went for the Autumn colors cause that's my thing but have a looksy cause she's got some gorgeous stuff and it's different for each subscribed month. Weee!!! I've been a bit drooly over sock yarn lately, maybe it's the podcasts I've been listening to which are sock-centric. So I made my first purchase of Blue Moon Fiber Arts Rockin' Sock yarn. 3 SKEINS!! Rocky Horror (pic above), Space Dust, and Hoofle Foofle. I'm impatiently waiting for them to arrive so I can sleep with them under my pillow and dream of the socks to come. My Sophie's Toes purchase also arrived from etsy and it is soooo squishylicious and I love the color - Rustic Cabin - which will nicely show off some lace patterning. There are more things I could add but these are the most recent and therefore most exciting.

Ghostland Observatory - Vibrate clip, live Seattle, 10/13/07

Ghostland Observatory

Best show ever. I can't even tell you how good it was except for the fact that my eardrums are still a little wonky and my feet still hurt a little from dancing so much. If they ever come anywhere near you drop everything and GO!! I can't remember the last time I had such fun at a show.

Sad Sad City

Not really, I'm ecstatic cause I'm going to see these suckers tomorrow. Happy dance with a twist. So starts the birthday celebration - synth-pop-dance goodness brought to me by my favorite screamers.

I also received my Knit Picks order yesterday resplendent with rainbow colors for a little Berd's Christmas gift. Not to mention the little bits of goodness for me - lace weight in two different colors, some palette for the Endpaper mitts, and some size 2 metal dpns for pointy pointy sock-making skills. I also put an order in for some Rockin' Sock Yarn. Can I just mention the colorway 'Rocky Horror'? Taste the rainbow!!

Wednesday's are for Sharing

Let's talk about sin shall we? How supposedly deadly they are, how we're not supposed to indulge in any of them, and how frickin awesome these plates are! I found these on Etsy and they hail all the way from New Zealand. She's got all kinds of kitschy goodness on her shop and even a disclaimer for adult content. Love it! I would love a set to hang on my wall granny style. Thanks Trixie Delicious for being so totally sinfully awesome.

Yet another Etsy shop is Fearless Fibers for all of you fiber-obsessed readers. She's got some gorgeous yarns as well as patterns, sock blockers, and kits. Totally pettable. I like that it's kind of an all-in-one shop what with the sock yarn, the pattern, and the blockers available from one vendor. Roll around and drool on that why dontcha? *I think I'm renaming Wednesday's are for Sharing to Covet this Wednesdays. How delightfully sinful of me. mwa ha ha.

The Dangers of Craft

Last night's craft night quickly morphed into drinking too much Pumpkin beer night. I'm feeling lethargic today but still working away on some knitting. I started Ene's Scarf from Scarf Style and having frogged it once I think I'm on my way. I'm using the hand-dyed yarn I picked up at the Puyallup fair and it is sooo soft and squishy. October is my birthday month so I've invested in a little Autumnal color for my stash. I love Etsy and all of the wonderful indie crafters who have shops. I picked up a skein of lace weight from white willow called Autumn Oak. Totally gorgeous, I sat and sniffed it for hours yesterday. I want to knit up something with a leaf motif so I can have Fall with me all year long. I also got a huge (630 yds) skein of fingering weight sock yarn from thankewe in a colorway called scarecrow along with some purdy blue stitchmarkers. I think some leafy knee socks are in order. Head on over to Etsy and make friends with some of the crafters, you'll be glad you did even if your credit card won't.

Wednesdays are for Sharing

Two great websites today. I'm feeling rather blah about this week so this is going to be brief. The first is Vintage Purls which has awesome vintage knitting patterns - for FREE!! The only caveat being that sizing is on the small side. I love these patterns and am totally willing to bust out the knitting calculator to resize some for moi.

Second up is Cookie A of the Monkey fame. I'm probably late on the draw for this one but I didn't realize she had an actual site with sock patterns to buy. Wow, are they pretty. I'm not sure I'm up to speed on my socktacularness to pull these puppies off but they sure make me drool. I can't imagine how they look in person. Ooooh, socky.