Farewell 2010

There it goes.....time.....speeding by. Did you see it? Did you notice 2010 evaporating at light speed? I did not. Suddenly, it's New Year's Eve again. As 2011 creeps closer, I find that I'm a little disappointed in my 2010 accomplishments. The old Knit-o-meter looks a little low on yardage. There are several long-term WIPs that are still residing in the ZZZZZ category over on Ravelry.

-for example!

My yarn room is absolutely obese, bulging at every seam. While this is not a real crisis, there is a little guilt involved in not knitting down my stash ...or at least visiting it a little more often. ;)
I'll not make New Year's resolutions, but I will make a list of 'hopes':
In 2011 , I hope to:

• have more quality time with family/friends
• laugh more
• knit more
• spin more
• keep running

...and I hope your 2011 is filled with the same....except that running part, unless you really want to!
Happy New Year!

Plurk Swap FO & Trades

Well, after months of nonproductive knitting, I finally finished something - a shawl for the Plurk Small Shawl Swap. This pattern is called Hamamelise and I knitted it in Skinny Bugga!, Orange Assassin Bug. I loved the pattern, and also the yarn. I hope my swap partner will love it, too.

In other knitting news, I managed to hit a Wollmeise update about three weeks ago and also managed to get not 1, not 2, but 3 skeins of the same lace. I knew I had 2 in my cart, but wasn't willing to sacrifice both by trying to delete & refresh. Ultimately, I ended up with 3 gorgeous skeins of My Old Blue Jeans. Fortunately, I managed to trade two of them. Here's one trade - Lace-Garn in Aquarius....it has some really beautiful color shifts.

The other trades, Frosch & Fruhling in 100%, are still in transit.

Now that I've been knitting again, my wrist cyst is acting up. I've put my brace back on for awhile. Sure do hope it's a temporary hurt because there's so much pretty yarn to knit!

Kid Hollow Farm Visit 2010

Today was a perfect fall day - see?



Several Plurk friends had gathered at Graves Mountain Lodge for their annual knitting weekend. Catspaw & I joined them on an excursion to Kid Hollow Farm for afternoon yarn fondling.

Here's Otto - guardian of the goats.....or mohair on the hoof.



Mohair before -


Mohair after -


- and here's a little knitting pr*on.....two gorgeous Shetland Pi shawls, as designed by WendyKnits.



...and one of them is the original! Love it!


Wish you were here!

Like Autumn Leaves....

....the brilliant colors of yarn warms my heart. I don't need to knit with it, or even have plans to knit with it-just looking at the brilliant colors makes me all happy inside. Take these for example-(well, not really.....you most certainly MAY NOT take them!). Don't these colors remind you of crisp autumn nights, fires in the fire place, and apple cider?

































1. Wollmeise 100% in Thriller
2. Wollmeise Bob WD in 80/20

Aaaaaahhhh. Perfect for this time of year!

I also appreciate other beauty found in nature....in wood for example. I think it's amazing when craftspeople can take a piece of wood and turn it into something that's not only beautiful, but also functional. Here's an example from a Ravelry destash.
















Bossie Bigleaf Maple Midi w/Cochin Rosewood shaft - .96 oz.

Now, please excuse me while I go put on a sweatshirt, grab a blanket, and play with these beauties for awhile!

MIA Knitter

....so not only has my inner blogger been missing, my inner knitter has gone AWOL, too. While I have several wonderful projects OTNs, I have just not been moved or motivated to knit. Maybe it's partly concern that the kitten will get into my projects, or that it was too hot for sooooo long, or that I've started running a little three days a week....or maybe I just need a little break. Although I'm not producing any knitted results, I am still collecting yarn. Here's the evidence, from top to bottom:


WM Silberdistel 100%
WM Salamander WD 80/20
Wellenstittichengefelder 100%

Here's one of the aforementioned projects. It's Wendy's Shetland Pi in Mitternacht WM Lace Garn. I'm almost finished with Clue 3. I love the pattern because it's easy to remember and I haven't lost my place.....yet....



I've also been thinking about spinning and managed to find this beautiful Spanish Peacock Chechen Rose/Ebony spindle in a Ravelry destash. Lovely......


So, I have beautiful tools and gorgeous yarn. Now all I need to do is knit and spin....need to find that creative mojo - I know it's around here somewhere!

M.I.A. Blogger

...yep, that's me. I haven't blogged since the summer - and haven't been very productive in the knitting department either, so there are no FOs to post. Nonetheless, I thought I'd post a little something to get back in the blogosphere.

The kitten photo, as many of you Ravelers/Plurkers already know, is Gunston Diego, who came to live with us in July. His arrival was very timely, as our "First Cat" White Socks passed suddenly two weeks after Gunnie's arrival. We really miss White Socks and are really glad that Gunston is here. He's been quite a good distraction!

Now for a little yarnie news- here are a few of my latest stashquisition.





I really must start knitting down my stash - honestly, I think it's reproducing! (as long as it's making good yarn, I really don't care!)

Hatteras 2010 & Knitting Addiction

A friend and I just returned from a quick trip down to Hatteras. We were celebrating the end of the school year and the high school graduations of our respective sons.


A change of pace was what we needed -


-and being away from the demands of being a mommy was very refreshing!


There was time to ponder the big questions in life -


....like, Why won't my hydrangeas bloom like these? LOL - that was a constant question during the trip!

Of course, both of us travelers took along our current knitting projects, and also found time to stop at an LYS on the way home.


Knitting Addiction is located in Kill Devil Hills, NC and is just what a yarn shop should be. It's open and airy with a comfy sitting area, excellent natural light, and beautiful displays.



The folks at Knitting Addiction were helpful, but not overly interactive. :(

While there, I purchased a little Blue Sky Alpaca Cotton for a quick baby project and it's knitting up very nicely....love that stuff - it's soooooo soft!


Knitting Addiction also has an online shop. Check it out at the link & enjoy your summer knitting!

Color Options & Play-off Style

Once school is out and after I'm caught up on all my other WIPs, I want to make Anna Dalvi's StarLight double-knitted shawl. I've been playing around with my color options and would like opinions please. I'm leaning toward one of the below, but would like your input on the combinations posted. Which do you think?

WD Die Auster & Fuschia


Zenzi & WD Petersilie


WD Birkenrinde (a little piggy) & Fuschia


WD Birkenrinde & Petit Poison #5

hmmmm......maybe I should make four of those shawls!

On the family-front, it's soccer play-off season again, so DS#3 came home today looking like this:


What can I say? It's a team tradition....grrrr....although the timing is really bad b/c graduation is less than a week away! I hope his graduation cap covers it up!

Spindle Spun

Little Skein of merino tencel/lycell
Originally uploaded by ckknitter

...and plied. Gaaaa - that was scary, but it turned out alright despite the occasional tangles and spindle snags. This is about 60 yards of merino/tencel lycell given to me by DS#1 for my big 5-0 b'day back in January. I was spinning it for the May Challenge over on the Spindler's Group on Ravelry. The challenge was to choose a piece of artwork and co-ordinate a little hand spun to go with it. My art was Georgia O'Keefe's Early Spring Moonrise, 1930. Even though my skein is little, I like it a lot! It's SHINY!

No Knitting Mojo

Have you ever been in a knitting funk? Well, I'm there right now. I have three shawls ONT and am at sticky spots in all of them. To make matters worse, I really want to cast on for the Moonfleet shawl because my yarn is sooooo pretty

and the Spoiler photos of Clue 1 posted on Ravelry are really tempting.

To distract myself, I've been playing around with a new drop spindle, purchased at Maryland Sheep and Wool. It's a Bosworth Mini in Marblewood. The roving is merino/tencel dyed by cloudlover over on Etsy. DS#1 purchased it for my b'day in January. I'm spinning this for the Spindler's group May challenge - paintings and roving. Here's my roving


and here's the painting:
Georgia O'Keefe Lake George, Early Moonrise Spring, 1930

There's only a little more left to spin and I'll have to figure out how to ply it on a spindle.....never done that before! Maybe that will shock me out of my knitting funk and get me back to my sticks and string!

Maryland Sheep and Wool-2010

was -

• hot
• more crowded than last year
• more fun than last year
• and offered even more enticing merchandise! (please see below)

The above includes -

• 8 ounces of Persimmon Tree roving (multi-color)
• 4 ounces of Icelandic roving (natural)
• Spanish Peacock Snowflake spindle in Holly/Bloodwood
• Bosworth Mini in Marblewood/Cochin Rosewood
• Brooks Farm Acero-2 skeins
• Miss Babs Bamboo Baby in Plum
• 2 pairs of Signature Needles - 3 & 5

In addition to the booty, 5 members of the Cindy Knitters group met up. There were actually 7 of us there, but we didn't know it until after we all got home. Next year we'll be more organized about getting the word out.

Heading off now to play with stuff!

Goaty-goats

Several of us CVGs (Central Virginia Girls)on Ravelry, drove out to beautiful Palmyra on Saturday. The weather was perfect-sunny, cloudless, and not too hot/cold....perfect weather for visiting Juniper Moon Farm and meeting their flock of sheep and angora goats. Juniper Moon is home of the "LambCam". Go to their website and check it out!


We had to feed them, of course...

..and meet Ernie, the Hunk of Cotswold.


Then we went over and sat down with the flock while they grazed. Aren't the kids adorable?


Judy managed to get one settled onto her lap. He stayed there for such a long time, we forgot he was there! I think Judy would have liked to slip him into her bag and bring him home!


The joy of the day was compounded upon arriving home and checking the mailbox. My Moonfleet KAL yarn arrived from The Unique Sheep. It's their Eos yarn in Seashell Gradiance.


What's the perfect ending for a perfect day? I didn't have to cook dinner! Here's hoping for many more of the same!

Easter Basket Surprises

Spring....flowers...warm weather....breezes blowing....remembering loved ones and Easter traditions...

DH's 1950's vintage basket-still in use by DS#2(soon to be 18)


My 1960's vintage basket-still in use by DS#3 (also soon to be 18)


...and a new basket - a gift from dear Janice, my friend and knitting guru.


...wait a minute...there's more than chocolate in this basket...that's not green Easter grass peeking through...


...Great Jumping Jelly Beans.....lookie what Easter Bunny Janice hid inside that sweet little basket!


...I was totally surprised and am 100% blessed to have such a wonderful friend.Thank you dear Janice...and a Blessed Easter season to all.