I have so much knitting & spinning craziness going on in my head right now - I’d really like another week off, just for me, just to knit, spin, doodle, and play. Mostly knit, but this fiber has been calling me for weeks now since Zen Mama put it out there. All the fiber that I have now is off-white or just little colored bits and I’m feeling uninspired by it (and so I’m wanting to dye, but have no supplies - kool-aid, here I come!).

On the knitting end, Ruth and some other fine folks have started a private design blog, which I couldn’t be more excited about - very timely and I can’t wait to get started.

Also, I’ve got babies that are due (not mine, before anyone panics and alerts the news media!) and that I’m actually feeling pulled to knit for - and one very special Beaster (almost not a baby anymore - she’s walking, and RUNNING!) for whom I’ve had a very particular project in mind for since before she was born, and which has almost reached fruition no less than 3 times…. (The path to hell is paved with good intentions) My theories on knitting for others and being a selfish knitter have been discussed before, probably on the old blog, and, well, it was one of my goals for this year to break that cycle, so I need to get started. This pattern from f. pea seems just perfect to me for one or two upcoming babies, but AB, honestly I’m not sure that I could make anything quite special enough for her despite all the lovely patterns out there. I will always feel that my knitting will fall short. The first try of AB’s gift was too scratchy and I made it about 75% of the way. The second one was too linty and I made it about halfway. The third, well you get the idea. I do want her to have something handknit from me though. And she WILL - preferably sometime before she turns 18. (BTW, AB is Anna Belle, a.k.a The Beaster a.k.a Beasta Beasta Aloueesta, is our niece!)

I want to knit this and this and this and this and this and this - the list goes on & on & on…. My Clapotis was such a great knitting experience that I immediately embarked on another small project thinking that I could not fail, and then I ran out of yarn - trying now to decide what to do with that one. In the meantime I started yet another little item to keep me going…. Good night! I want a whole wardrobe of new spring sweaters & wraps in beautiful colors! I want to adopt those poor sheep here in Apex and start a farm! I want to learn to navajo ply! I want to make something worthy of the people that I love! I want to quit my job and do nothing but fibery things (now that’s practical!) I want to design, I want to write, I want to create! Ack!! I am thankful for this little space, I never really thought that I would be attached to it, but attached I am. My fibery pursuits and this little blog have given me exactly the creative outlet that I needed and that had been lacking for some time. Only now I find it hard to focus on process improvement, databases, spreadsheets and charge capture (let alone caulking and painting and baseboards - though at least there is color!). Balance, balance, my friends. I’m striving for it.

For those of you who were able to bear with this little piece of self-indulgence, I salute you. I’m calm(er) now. I promise.

(Picture Heavy Post)

The Carolina Jessamine now blooming on the back deck (which smells like Lifesavers - yummm!):

The zipper pulls on my camelback (which I used happily on a training walk this morning out at Umstead with a dear friend):

Piedmont Biofuels bumper sticker (which powers our good old TDI Golf):

Our broom (which we use, occasionally, to clean):

A little plastic stitch marker (I’ll sneak in the knitting-related content on this one where I can!!):

Our walls(!):

We aren’t quite done yet the walls below the chair rail need to be painted (chestnut brown) and so do the chair rails themselves and the rest of the trim. I have not knit a stitch in a week my friends, and a week off at that. We have however, turned the bedroom from this:

Into this:

And the dining/living room from this:

Into this:

Here’s the palette - the Raffia and Bayleaf on the right are the bedroom; the Dahlia and Chestnut (2nd and 3rd from the left) are the Living/Dining room, Slice in the center is the entryway, and the Bordeaux on the left is the existing color of our breakfast nook:

Courtesy of Mathias’s gastrointestinal pyrotechnics over the last few months, and 5 years of two big dirty dogs laying on them, the carpets had to go. Also courtesy of the kids, the walls needed a good paint job. We opted to install chair rail so that we can clean/touch up the bottom part of the wall from the inevitable dirt, scratches, and dents fairly easily (yes dents - the Little Man has planted his butt into one wall beside our back door at least 2x since we’ve been in the house). True to form, everything has taken much longer than we thought, but we’re pretty happy with the results so far and will chip away at the rest in free time over the next few weeks.

Things I now need to catch up on (not necessarily in order of priority):

1. Your emails and comments

2. My bloglines, which have gotten no more than a passing glance, I miss reading you all!!

3. Work - ack!

4. Knitting (obviously)

5. Maya’s last challenge - I’m late, but it was a good one that I really want to take pictures of - great stuff Maya, sorry I’m lagging!

6. Other various personal responsibilities

PS - Thanks to those of you that have asked about Mathias - he is very well, with the exception of his unfortunate intestinal issues - long story of which you don’t need the details (although I have more disgusting bams stories than you can possibly imagine), unfortunately he has been through just about every test imaginable and we will just keep hunting and pecking for the solution, in the meantime, he is as sweet as ever and we are very thankful that it’s not life threatening.

Maya’s challenge for Exhibitionist this week is to show our favorite knitting/crotcheting literature. Here’s mine:

I have several knitting books which I adore, particularly Melanie Falick’s Weekend Knitting, Joelle Hoverson’s Last Minute Knitted Gifts, and Teva Durham’s Loop-d-Loop and the list that I would like to own is much longer (and growing steadily - I finally saw a real live copy of Stefanie Japel’s Fitted Knits tonight).  But what I turn to the most are my copies of Interweave Knits. I never fail to find something that I love in each issue, and usually there are several patterns that make me swoon. The instructions are clearly written and easily followed and the articles providing in-depth study on various techniques are invaluable. I wish that I could keep them in pristine condition forever - unfortunately that won’t happen. I generally go to bed with one (or two, or five) either along with or in place of my evening reading, and Tad laughs at me for reading the same magazines for the hundredth time
Happy Friday everyone - It’s a cold and rainy one here, but Tad and I are at the start of a week “off” - woo-hoo!  Not really off-off, we have some big projects slated for this week - I’ll give you a sneak peek soon, maybe tomorrow!

Sadly, I had to miss my spinning guild meeting last Thursday due to matters beyond my control which will involve dragging the Little Man back to the vet tomorrow for the upteenth time (very disappointed on both counts!). But I was determined to finish this up since so much of my time has been soley dedicated to knitting lately… and I’ve been really excited about it since I finished the plying - This is my first substantial spinning FO! And I do have somewhat specific plans for this, involving a little swatching,

a little inspiration, and going out on a new (knitting) limb. It won’t happen overnight… but it will happen!

This was spun from Paradise Fiber’s Bargain Bin Grey Norwegian - at $11/lb, it really IS a bargain, and pretty easy for my new spinning hands to deal with. I was shooting for something pretty bulky, and that’s what I got - @ 9 WPI. Consistency will be my issue for awhile, the yards/oz. of the 3 skeins does vary a bit, so I plan to use the Manos method and alternate skeins on every other row to get a more uniform overall effect. This is definitely my most consistent effort so far, so I was pleased nonetheless. I was suprised by the squishy-ness of the washed yarn. It was a bit scratchy when spinning and I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but it did soften up quite a bit in the wash - not next-to-skin soft, but soft enough.

I have another knitting project in the works, cast on directly on the heels of Clapotis, and a WIP of an entirely different sort to share over the next few days, as well as the next Exhibitionist challenge issued by Maya!

P.S. Check it out - I heard it here first - HeatherKnits comes before See Eunny Knit on my bloglines!  I have to admit, I am a little sad to see Pam Allen go.  But certainly thrilled by her replacement

Maya has started a Photo-Along called Exhibitionist for us to show pictures of our knitting gear (the link is also found on the sidebar under Crowd Participation. Unfortunately I’m having some button difficulty!) I have to admit, what really roped me in was the first topic. It gave me a chance to take a trip down memory lane and document something that really is most precious to me.

This knitting kit was sewn years ago and was well-used and likely well-traveled by someone very precious to me. I love the simple beauty and tactile feel of the wool felt, the pinked edges, the straight stitches, the little blue-gray button. It was crafted as a functional object (although not without a desire to be handsome) by it’s original owner, for her personal use and without thought that it would eventually belong to someone else. In fact I believe it was made years before I existed. Now it, and it’s contents, are much loved by me. I do wish that I had learned to knit earlier. But it is so nice, to have this.

Clapotis had her debut at the Billy Joel concert on Saturday night - there we are, having a ball! But you probably aren’t here to read about Billy - For more pics of the show & videos, click on over to tadandmel.com.

My little Clapotis would be the first “Official” FO of 2007 - and she’s a winner, thank goodness! Three others to date have met with frustrating ends. For any new readers since the old blog died, the first (unofficial) FO was during the early part of January. It was my first pair of socks. Unfortunately, as I was doing some finish work on one, Sweeter Sweeter Sock Eater (well, I guess you can tell by the name, can’t you?) yes, I apparently left my knitting within reach while she was unattended for a few minutes. No longer than that, I assure you! Once the suspected fate of the sock was confirmed, I knew exactly when it had occurred. And she truely had a window of about 2 minutes. The girl works fast. The moral of the story is that I should have known better (No, this was not the first sock ever to be consumed by the Sweeter, just the first handknit one). My own darn fault of course, and thank goodness she was ok.

The second unofficial FO of 2007 was my Anemoi Mittens. This was my first foray into colorwork and I had so much fun! I really enjoyed knitting them and although I did have a tension issue which made the second mitten come out slightly larger, they blocked out to about the same size and I was so pleased with them, not to mention how much I learned in the process. I never had the opportunity to post about them - they were worn a total of 3 times. I had not had a chance to take the “finished” pictures yet, when they disappeared at work This during the same week that the original blog died. BOOO!

So, of course, mel has resolved to be MUCH MORE careful with her knits as there is a sad trend here! It should be noted, however, that this is a totally new trend. Up until this point, I had never had this sort of problem with my knits.

The third project of 2007 involved a sizing debacle which I posted on recently. Itwas necessary to take a break and move on to something “unsized” and quick to knit. I had recently discovered my in-progress Clapotis in a stash drawer - I’m not even sure why this project was left by the wayside. It had been a little over a year since I’d touched it and to be honest, I had forgotten all about it until I was going through my stash. I vowed to come back to it soon and finish it up (little did I know how soon it would be!). After the sizing issue I dug through my stash again to come up with a few options for instant grat knits, and this was the obvious choice since it was already a little over halfway done. The talented Shannon is working on this now too (and taking some gorgeous pics!), and that’s where I learned about purling the stitches that are intended to be dropped - which saved me some time and lost stitch markers. My Clapotis is scarf-sized and perfect for our lovely NC spring weather, and the colors were a great antidote to the knitting blues as well. I’m loving the finished length - it is long enough to hang elegantly to my waist when wrapped once and tied or folded and looped, and also long enough to wrap twice or three times for extra warmth. She’s also long enough for some additional wearing options, which I probably won’t actually use, but I was having fun!

So, the very basic stats - I won’t elaborate as there are a wealth of these beauties and notes about them already out there:

Pattern: Clapotis, of course.

Yarn: Knitpicks Shimmer in Turquoise Splendor, Doubled throughout

Needles: US4

I can see exactly why so many people have made (and loved) this pattern. It is simple and elegant and versatile; enough going on in the pattern to make it fun, but generally a very relaxing knit. The laceweight made this a very lightweight and floaty scarf, but I would love to try it as a real wrap in something more substantial.

Many of you have seen pictures like this before. Through use of a good scale and some fancy math, one can deduce whether or not there is enough yarn to finish the project. Well, let me assure you, my friends, that no such skill was involved here! This here is pure, s#!t luck. Oh, and am I the only one who knits faster when running out of yarn? It’s got to be subconscious, like blowing on cold ice cream in your spoon (I KNOW I’m not the only one who does that!). Knitting faster will certainly not prevent an inevitable event of running out of yarn. I was quite nervous - my recent knitting exploits have left me a little gun shy and I was almost certain I’d be ripping out a repeat in order to have enough to finish (which would not be the end of the world, but when you’re hungry for an FO, it could certainly be discouraging!). I must have some good knitting karma built up somehow though - there was about one yard left. Miss Clapotis was finished and blocked yesterday and dry in time to make her debut last night - a couple of pictures to take and she will be ready for her online debut tomorrow!