Ellen's sofa has inspired me. A few days ago she posted about her favorite place to knit/crochet, and I enjoyed reading her post so much that I thought I'd post about my favorite spot, too.
A half complete scarf.
A quarter complete shawl.
...my June Socks That Rock club yarn arrived on Saturday. The colorway is Firebird. Peachy keen goodness...
...and then my Mom was kind enough to pick up this lovely teal mystery fiber (I think this is the same kind of stuff with which I'm practicing right now)...
...and some Clear Waters Farm Corriedale from Llamas and Lambs.
I'm also spending way too much time on Ravelry, but I'll post about that later. Now, it's back to knitting...lace.
I'll omit the little circles and add a vintage brooch. Some choices from my collection:
So, what's your next project going to be?
Mystery Stole 3 begins on June 29th. I'm swatched and rarin' to go. At this time there are almost 2,600 people from all over the world signed up, and the Yahoo list is abuzz with people deciding on what yarn to use and whether or not they want to add the optional beads. Pattern creatrix and group moderator Melanie has told us that this pattern works best in black or white. Bet you know which color I picked. Yep. JaggerSpun Zephyr in Ebony. Even raided the stash for it. (I bought it on sale last year from Red Bird Knits, but have since discovered Sarah's Yarns is the place to go for Zephyr.) I'm using US 3 29" Bryspuns, and will be omitting the beads.
Pattern: Generic cuff down socks
It's been a long time coming, me knitting my first pair of socks. Since last summer, actually. But now, now I'm the proud mama of socklets, and I'm feeling downright giddy.
So is this scrumptious Artfibers Galicia Barbara gifted to me.
Is this my color or what? Yowza. But before I run off on a tangent extolling silk, Artfibers, and asking for opinions on what lace scarf pattern I should use with it, back to the socklets.
And, to keep the momentum going, I'm taking Cookie A.'s toe up class with Ellen and Barbara at Unwind in a few weeks, too.
Fiend update: This morning was B.I.G. Big as in Fiend went to the vet big. He's so freaky skittish that we've been putting it off until we could at least pet him without him spazzing. Then, two days ago, he sported a bite on his ear and forehead that turned nasty yesterday, so in he went today. And guess what? He went into the carrier without a problem. Yep, Tom was able to pick him up and put him in the carrier without biting, scratching, hissing, yowling or twisting. I just stood there, holding the backup bribe can of tuna fish, in disbelief. Cats are so fickle. We're still waiting on some test results, but have learned he's around 12 (! we thought he was a year old - so much for our age telling ability), has been neutered, and came back negative for kitty aids and leukemia. He was well behaved at the vet, and was mellow when Tom brought him home. B.I.G. Next up, he and Maggie get to make nice.
One repeat down. I heart the Euroflax linen big time. I'm also glad there are only k2togs and ssks in this pattern, as its lack of give makes for some interesting tugging here and there.
Still waiting for its button(less) bands. It's gonna be waiting a while; now that hot weather has hit, to look at it makes me sweat. Unless I crank the air con and get freaky deaky with it. We'll see.
Here's my first bobbin of funny single ply. My tension is all over the place since I'm still getting my hands and feet to work together. There are big puffy lumps, and thin sections, and everything in between. I'm really enjoying myself. And thanks to Carolyn, Patty and Georgia for their help and encouragement.
2. Cascade 220. So practical! Perfect for garments, blankets, toys - and for felting little vests for the monkeys we see in the palm trees.
3. Rowan Scottish Tweed DK. So tweedy! A must for cable projects.
Tom was being exceedingly curmudgeonly about his birthday this year. So, we - as in the royal we, meaning me - decided a Sunday day trip to Ventura was just the thing to cheer him up. It's close (in SoCal terms), has a cute downtown, a Mission, nearby beaches, and his favorite Mustang parts store, National Parts Depot.
It also has a yarn store, but I swear this didn't factor into my selfless role as birthday gloominess dispenser.
Well, not at first, anyway. Then I discovered that it was practically next to his car parts store. So, I waited until he suggested that he drop me off there while he went and talked classic cars and bought a new Mustang exhaust system...and then I demurely agreed that it might be fun to check out Anacapa Fine Yarns. Which he did, and I did, and fun was had by all.
Lois - here she is! - has a cozy store full of beautiful yarns, an amazing selection of needles and friendly customers.
Even though I've shot my yarn budget for the year, and have given myself an ultimatum about buying more, I found some lovelies that just had to come home with me. Obviously I need to work on my self-control issues, but in the meantime I have more green yarn!
Colinette Jitterbug in Velvet Leaf
O-Wool Balance in Malachite
I've started some other stuff, too, but it'll have to wait until tomorrow. Today is Tom's birthday, and now we're off to celebrate.
Well, to be honest, I'm not sure if what I was doing qualifies as anything more than playing with roving. Mostly it was me spinning the wheel in the wrong direction, or overtwisting, or - there was lots of this - undertwisting, or...well, you get the idea. But, for two brief moments, things clicked. My hands felt it. It was magic.
Hmm, let's distract you from this total lack of knitterly excitement with a contest or two, shall we? Meredith has a Fantasy Island scenario for us here, and Jen has a TV-themed one here. I'll be posting my Fantasy Island one on this here blog soon.
Speaking of contests, Teresa picked me as one of the lucky winners in her recent bare-all-in-the stash-enhancement contest. I won this lovely Koigu and matching button and stitch markers. Thanks, Teresa, for my lovely gifties!
He doesn't stay long, usually 20-30 minutes, but one night he was in for two hours. We only let him in when our other cat Maggie is in the backyard, since he bolts every time he sees her. We have to be very quiet when he's inside; even the TV freaks his scene. This little guy is the spookiest cat I've ever known, but he's perfectly content to hang out on and around our front doorstep, with occasional forays inside, which works for us. He hides well (we're still trying to figure out where he sleeps at night), and since our attempts to get him around to the back of the house were a bust, I'm feeling more secure about him being outside at night. He's a funny looking critter, and, as you can see, a big fan of the catnip, and follows Tom around like a dog. 
