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.

Why oh why....

Is Ravelry so addictive, seriously! I just can't help myself even when I'm slightly tipsy from cider and actually have to work on a Saturday. I should be in bed but am totally committed to browsing other people's projects until the wee hours of the morn. Must....knit.....this....scarf.....drool.... You get the idea, and yet it happens over and over again. Weee!!! If only I had about four more hands that could knit without conscious direction. Wow. That's a thought.

Wednesday's are for Sharing

I almost forgot it was Wednesday - ya know with the Anniversary, the first day of class (8 am Algebra!), and my change of schedule it's all been kind of crazy. But I do have this rocktastic yarn from Lime & Violet of the podcast fame. Yummy. The color is pooka but it reminds me of some kind of blackberry cobbler that I want to eat up, you know, or knit socks with. So pretty. My fingers keep twitching toward the card and I have to distract myself with finishing the things that are actually on my needles. (Back to School U-Neck Vest from Fitted Knits) That pretty much encompasses my sharing news because knitting podcasts are my new obsession. I listen to them all day long at work. It helps me get my knitting fix without actually being able to knit. Lime & Violet is my new favorite - could that have anything to do with them earning the 'explicit' tag? Seriously.

Happy Anniversary!

cutekiss
Originally uploaded by zombiegirl1

Today is our one year wedding anniversary - five years together. Time flies. Happy Anniversary to the Man! We're off to downtown Seattle to gad about town and eat some yummy food. Plus no work tomorrow! Hooray!

Wednesday's are for Sharing

My newest obsession. No, not Bob the Dog, Stash and Burn!! I spent pretty much all weekend catching up on past podcasts while knitting away. These two ladies are so funny and I love the questions they ask each other about their knitting lives and projects. They have wonderful rapport and a great sense of humor. Even if you're a new knitter (like me!) you'll enjoy the content - they talk a lot about color, pattern, fit, and STASH! So good. Stash and Burn is available through their website or by subscribing to their free podcast in the iTunes store. Just listening to them makes me want to move to San Francisco so I can be their knitting compadre. Viva la Stash and Burn!
Next up is Fetching from the Summer 06 Knitty. I love this pattern. I had a ball of yarn left over from my Kittyville hat and decided to knit up a pair of Fetching to go with it. This would be Christmas knitting (never too early to start!) for my little sister. So, about a day later I had the cutest softest fingerless mitts ready to go into the gift box. I think this would be a perfect pattern for learning how to cable, plus incredibly inexpensive as it takes one ball of 98 yd/50 gram yarn. Whoohoo!

Fair Enough

Oh sheep, you may be dumb but you sure know how to grow wool. Beautiful, gorgeous, sheepy smelling wool. All the sheep were so cute and they were all getting haircuts which reminded me of wool which reminded me that there must be handspun at the fair. I saw lots of 4-H moms spinning along in their camp chairs posted outside the barns. Yes! A sure sign of impending hand-made yarn. But after 3 hours of fruitless searching I began to despair. Where were the quilts? The pies and preserves? The floral designs? The giant pumpkins and heirloom tomatoes? The needlepoint entries? My feet started to drag and throb, my head grew heavy and I grew cranky enough to think that strawberry shortcake would be a fine substitution for yarn. (What?!!!) Although delicious, it couldn't really substitute. And there - across the hall- I glimpsed it!! Yarn! Real handmade, handspun, hand whatever, yarn! So I made my way in, wandered around touching and smelling everything and came away with some super-pretty hand-dyed angora/polyamide yarn. Ahhh...success. I'm rather surprised at my scanty purchasing which must have been brought about by a combination of 'fair people' , deep fried food, hours of walking, and a sudden sugar rush. I was intrigued by the giant skeins (546 yds) of sock yarn but just couldn't make up my mind. The Man was getting even crankier than me and so I grabbed the one thing calling my name gave it a good whiff and headed to the register. It shall be a clapotis for me. Mmmm...angora clapotis.