October II

Picture post! Lots of eye candy! 

Before it gets too late and I end up having wasted my time taking all these photos. :)

Hartford Convention Center

Oooo, Stitches East 2014 show was fun. Last year I didn't see much that excited me but this year I wanted EVERYTHING.  A whole convention center of everything you want. It's so sweet and so cruel.

Did indeed start some knitting up before we left for the show. Can't go to a fiber festival without some fiber involved.

(Yarn is Trekking XXL, pattern is Fruit Stripe Gum.)

I don't think I did too badly with my purchases considering I wanted everything. Right?

A couple skeins of rainbow striping yarn from White Birch Fiber Arts.

Navy/blue australian merino from Windy Valley Muskox Co.

Regia. (Great for socks. Wears like IRON.)

And a sparkly turquoise yarn from The Periwinkle Sheep.

Also a lobster hat kit. BECAUSE why not? (This was the hubby's pick.)

Those rainbow striping yarns are like a Lisa Frank/unicorn/glitter bomb happy making thing. Rainbow. Stripes. 

I regretted only getting two colorways........so I *may* purchased have another two the week after the show from her Etsy shop. Maybe. Nobody saw. (Feel free to judge.)

The hubby did his own purchasing: a big ole hank and a cone of alpaca for weaving. 

Soooooo soft. *pets*

There were A LOT of weaving samples up at the show. I dutifully took pictures of all the rigid heddle ones I want him to make for me. *ahem*

Snaps from the top of the cliffs down the road from my house. Is there any better season than fall? I THINK NOT.

 

That is all for now. Super super super busy with bead orders this month. Tis the season and all. :)

Ta!

Hey look!

I actually made some progress on a couple projects. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! That hasn't happened in a while. (Seriously - where did the summer go? I feel like I did nothing, went no where, etc. It was a pretty depressing summer though, for the most part. It's probably better that it's over actually, now that I think about it. Good riddance summer? lol)

These are my 'Jury Duty Jaywalker' socks finally finished. I had jury duty in July and I prepared for that by making sure I had a pair of wooden circular needles (because you can't have metal needles here) and got some nice striping yarn (because I lovessssssssssssssssss striping yarn) and even started the cast on in a much-loved-by-me pattern (Jaywalkers) to get them ready for some major courtroom knitting and......................my jury duty was canceled. Of course. (I'm 0 for 4 now in being called up for jury duty. I'll get there one day, oh yes I will! lol) Oh well. I finished them eventually.
 

I'm not going to try and figure out many times I've knit this pattern now but it's a lot. (Ten maybe?) There really is nothing better out there to showcase a self-striping sock yarn, IMHO. And it's free to boot! (I think? It used to be free. It's PROBABLY still free? I should check that. lol)

Okay so this isn't finished, not by a long shot, but I'm very proud I made it this far on this. It's a creepy, waaaaaaay out there Halloween design that has been in my stash a long, long, long time. (Long enough that this particular fabric is no longer sold so I'm glad I got it at the same time as the pattern. It really needs a linen with character, I think, to offset the crazy design.) It's not easy trying to cross stitch when you have a silver bullet who likes to LAUNCH herself at your Q-Snapped piece like it was a trampoline. Seriously. What is the appeal?? She just comes out of nowhere and BOUNCES off it like a gymnast! It's funny but it makes stitching, uh, a little slow. Heh.

Not that these guys are ever naughty like that. Oh no. Perfect angels, all the time. *snerk*

(They just turned 12 weeks this Sunday and I'm fairly certain that = Terrible Twos. I'm starting to turn into Bad Mommy with the No! Don't Chew That!s and No! Biting!s and the always popular Get Down from There! And then 10 minutes later they are snuggly cuddle muffins who melt your heart. *sigh*)

My beloved Fair was this weekend and, in fitting with the whole summer, it was kinda depressing so I'm not going to bother to post pics. *sniff* It was dark, dreary, rainy and humid (oh god, HUMID!) the entire time it was going on so we didn't spend much time there. Also, I didn't enter in anything this year so there was excitedly hunting for ribbon status, etc. Maybe we'll go to the Big Eastern Exposition in Massachusetts in a couple weeks to try for another 'fair fix'. :)

Not gonna lie.

I kinda hate July a little so far. It's the weather. Ugh.

Too hot and WAY too humid to do anything fun outside. Or anything outside really. (You could swim.......but I don't have a pool.) I've been reading a lot lately. Which is good for working through the stacks of books (both paper and digital) that I have. But man, I hate humid. It turns me into a whiny princess. :(

Way back a couple weeks ago, before the dew point parked it's ass in the 70-75 degree range and refused to budge, I did manage to finish a couple projects.

Cookie A - Jubilee pattern

Yay! Socks! Only my second pair this year. NUTS. I am seriously lacking in sockitude this year because of my tendonitis issues. They are..........a little weird? They look massively big but fit pretty okay. Probably too thick to wear with lace up shoes but, as luck would have it, I tend to wear clogs more often than not in the winter around the house. (I contemplated doing the smaller pattern size but the gauge was telling me they would have been too small then so I didn't even bother to try it.) Cheetos-colored socks aren't for everyone though, obviously, so these I'm definitely keeping for myself. :)

That's it for me with knitting though until the weather changes. I started a scarf but it's too too too sticky draping over your legs, etc. to work on it right now.

Also finished, little L*K strawberry sampler that's......also a little weird? I had almost none of the hand-dyed threads it called for and the DMC conversions provided were........less than stellar. I'm not 100% on some of the colors, as far as them all working together, but, you know - it is just a little sampler. No sense in driving yourself mad over it either.

Do you know how hard it is to find collectables that have LIGHT-colored Himalayans in them? IMPOSSIBLE. Everything is done up with the darker Seal and Chocolate point Himalayans.  *pout* 

So I was SUPER stoked to find this original watercolor on Etsy with a Blue point kitty, just like my Mooshie. OH HELLO, I MUST HAVE YOU.  (The seller is Amble and Sing. SUPER cute stuff!) It's just about the most perfect thing EVERrrrRRrrrrr. *ahem* I put one of his favorite 'glitter' balls he loved to fetch with  it and I just love it. Makes me smile every time I pass it in the hall. :)

I'm really over how quiet the house is too. I had tuna fish for lunch yesterday - alone.
By myself. Do you know how sad that is? No one cared. No one came to sit with me. No one begged for a treat. It tasted like salty tears and disappointment. 

To remedy that, expect a can of whoop ass to be unleashed around these parts around mid-August. Hopefully. *fingers crossed*

Squared.

 Well, that's that. For now, at least.

I'm all squared out on knitting squares for a while. I do like dabbling in some mindless knitting for a bit but it does lose it's appeal at some point and then it's time to move on to something more challenging.

I now have17 new squares to add to the stack in this endless, never going to be finished, blanket.

(I think that brings me up to 65 now?) I'm in NO danger of running out of yarn scraps any time soon either - even after knitting up all these squares I still have a GIGANTO-HUGE bag of them left. It's like a magical bag of yarn that constantly refills itself when I'm not looking. (Something that would be better served if it were food..........or money. lol)

It's pretty crazy for me to only have finished a single pair of socks done at this point in the year (I usually have 3-4 pairs done by now) so I drug out this Cheetos-inspired orange yarn for a pair of socks. I'm going easy on it so far though so my hand doesn't start getting cranky. :(

Do you Hobby Lobby? I've always heard it's a great store to browse and I finally made it to the one that opened near here this winter. (Iif you consider 45 minutes away 'near' - which I do because I have to drive that far for everything that is good.) It felt very old school 90's craft store-ish to me in the sense that it carries everything that was ever made in the history of making things to sell at a craft store. But a lot more organized. And clean. (If that makes sense? It might just be me, but I've done a lot of shopping over the years at local craft stores that were like treasure hunts trying to find what you wanted, everything stacked up in piles, year after year. You never knew what you find. Each aisle was a mystery. lol)

Anyhoo, I wasn't there for any particular reason so all I ended up with is a cute polka dotted bundle of fabric quarters (perfect for small finishes) and an adorable little needle tin with old-timey stitching motives on it.  (Oh sure, there was more I *could* have purchased but I was trying to be good.) 

Unfortunately, that store is situated right next to a Joann's AND a Michaels so I'm going to be faced with an uncomfortable choice when I'm in that area again. Joann and I are pretty tight bff's and I've actually DATED Michael (read: I worked at one in the 90's). Not sure I can dump them for the flashy new Miss Hobby, even if she is pretty tricked out. lol

Well that week FLEW by! Always the worst part of taking a week off - the CATCHING UP you have to do when you get back to real life.  

SOMEONE had a 17th birthday the other day. (Hint: it wasn't me.)

Thanks so much for the kind comments about my poor boo-boo kitty. He perked up a bit mid-week and seems mostly back to normal now, or at least his 'normal'. As his brain started healing though the 'must eat everything sight' switch got turned off again and I'm now back to trying to coax him into eating all day. He really, really, really hates the kidney diet prescription food. Like, really hates it. What's the point of food to extend his life a little if he's going to starve to death in the meantime? I keep trying to stick with it (and have for over a year) but at this point I think we have to concede that we are both terrible at sticking to a diet. I can't blame him for being happy with bits of ham or cheese. Aren't we all?

Anyhoo, I'm trying to catch up on photos, photos, photos. I keep taking photos of things but then never posting them. Grrr. I actually did manage to finish a few things on break, that I was very glad to get finished and off to the great Finish Bin in the sky, I mean my closet.

 God I really don't like these socks. I started them in January and JUST finished them, so that right there tells you how disinterested I was in them. I took a skein of yarn I really didn't care for (too thin and splitty) and paired it with a slip stitch pattern that I also didn't care for (because it's a TERRIBLE CHOICE FOR A SPLITTY YARN) and GUESS WHAT? They were a miserable knit from start to finish and I will forever be shocked AND awed that I finished them. (In my defense though I picked that pattern because it helped alleviate the thinness of the yarn. It creates an almost woven fabric that adds bulk.)

 Also finished: the bonus charts from the L*K mystery sampler that I started last summer. Very much not miserable to finish and I'm glad I finally got to it because these are cute and I love Halloween stitchies. :)

 And a bunch of totally unphotogenic Scrap Yarn Blanket of Doom squares. I needed something mindless and quick to start/finish to clear my head of the oogie-boogies from the stupid socks. Blanket square I can finish in 90 minutes? YES PLEASE. I think I'm up to 8 new squares now to add to this never ending, not even CLOSE TO BEING FINISHED project because I'm still having fun doing up new ones. Once I get a bunch, like a dozen, I'll wash and block them so they look pretty and totally not like wadded up Kleenex. :)

To 'reward' myself for finishing a stitchy wip I did up a brand-spanky new-to-me small one. I randomly picked colors for this Val's Stuff freebie and think it came out pretty good. (Though I curse you Belfast green linen for always being IMPOSSIBLE to photograph nicely. What is it with this color??? So pretty in person SO HORRIBLE ON THE INTERNETS.) Could use some more contrast in the nose but I can live with it. Original pattern doesn't chart a flower or bunny tail but it's pretty easy to put them in. (Can't have a bunny without a TAIL?!?)

Now that that is done I reached into the nether regions of my wip stack (also known as my storage ottoman in the living room where things go to die a lonely death) and pulled out another wip to tackle. Oh, how optimistic I was when I happily stitched in the year 2012 on this!!! Twice. *face palm* Oh well. 2012, 2013. Isn't time just an illusion anyway? How can be sure that ANY sampler with a date stitched in is correct, right? So I'm keeping the 2012. And don't be thinking I'm almost done with this because there is whole other section of frames that go on the bottom of this. I originally abandoned this because - SURPRISE SURPRISE - I made a little boo-boo with the border and one of those borders is off a little. And ripping out black floss is miserable so I put it in time out. I think I'm mostly over it now though. Aside from talking about my failure on the internets, of course. lol

Whew. Now I'm all caught up I think, aside from adding these to my project pages. Yay!! :)

Happy Friday the 13th! :)

It's hard to be spooked by it though when it's so bright and sunny and warm though, right?

(I've come across this multiple times today on Facebook, etc. and, while it doesn't seem that fair, I have to say I've snorted  laughed at it every single time. Why? I don't know.)

Hard to believe another week has gone by!! Let's see, what did I get into to this week.......

I finished up all of my current sock projects!

Oh, don't be too impressed though - the "Wayward" (red) ones have been ongoing since the beginning of March. 

 I just had a bitty foot on the right one to do to put that project to bed. (And, because of the complementing wrap-a-round cables, these socks actually *DO* have a left and right to them. Thankfully, I paid attention to what chart was what, out of the stack that this pattern comes with, and ENDED UP with a right/left one vs. two lefts, etc. WHEW!) 

 The Dragonfly socks were a quick knit - easy, easy! Probably could have gone with another repeat for the leg so I'll remember that for next time. (I don't like my socks too long so it's no biggie either way.)

Also (semi) finished:

Stitched my flag stitchy again, this time on the 'proper' fabric so it will fit on top of the star box that came in the kit. Just need to find the time to do the finishing now. (I didn't improvise a little '2012' on the new one but now that I see them together, I kind of miss that? I might have to go back and put that in!)

Anyone else doing the L*K Mystery Sampler Club that was just released??? I started it and love the colors but the fabric is a little larger count (30 ct.) than I would prefer. It's not a deal-breaker though. I'm just a diva and will get over it. *cough* I think the transition from 40ct from the last project to 30ct was a little oogy for me, is all.

I know so many of you are BROILING out there, in the heat, but it's been phenomenally seasonal here the past week...........again. Much better than it usually is for this area! If this is the new 'face' of climate change for this area, I'll take it!!!! Got lots of biking in last week, picture is from one of the (many) bike bridges on the Blackstone River Trail in Lincoln/Cumberland, Rhode Island.

This last pic is from my Epic Kitchen DeClutter this morning. Does anyone else find the kitchen gets cluttered if you so much as take your eyes off of it for a second? I hadn't SERIOUSLY decluttered it in awhile so I went at it in a ruthless manner this morning and now it's all back down to clean surfaces everywhere you look. 

I had to laugh and stop to take a picture of this ridiculousness though:

I *might* have a packet problem. As in, drink packet?

Yeah, I gots it bad. REAL bad.

And I'm not sure the picture is *quite* capturing just how many are there. (And I'm not even getting into how many bottles of MiO are around. *ahem*)

In my defense, I do drink a lot of water. (I even have a water cooler in my kitchen to facilitate things.)

I don't have any defense, really, for ordering more though the other day. True Lemon has 50% off all the lemonade packets this month and I..........may have ordered some more? Less than a 100 packets but, uhhhhh, more than 50. Okay so it was 80. Crap. WHERE IS THE 12 STEP PROGRAM FOR PACKET ADDICTION????? o_0

(Not that anybody asked, but my favorite one is the stevia-sweetened Apple Pear ones from Target. If I could get that one on tap, that would be GLORIOUS.)

Fini.

Finished both my 'vacation' projects this weekend! :)

 Queen Bee by LHN

 No mods..........that I remember. The linen is called Straw but I have to admit I'm not sure what company it's from. (WDW? Maybe?) I get linen in, throw it in the pile and then never really know what it is or where it's from. /shrug 

I really liked the frame that was pictured with the pattern for this but the square shape is just begging for a cube finish instead, right?

 Vesper striping yarn

And more stripey socks (that I never ever get tired of making............or wearing!) This color was hard to photo.........when the sun hits this yarn, I swear it GLOWS. Soooooooooooo bright! LOVE IT!

So that's cool, not letting them drag out for months or whatever. Now I can rip into something NEW and SHINY. lol

Here's a cool link I came across this morning on Pinterest:

Oh, to have the time to get to all the projects in the world!!!

 I really like the patchwork pincushion that links to here. Super cute! Bookmarking that one for sure.

Will it be lion or lamb? Hmm..................

 This was the view on my road on March 1st so I'm thinking....................lion, right? Could go either way but I'm definitely leaning towards 'in like a lion'. If only the universe had made it a little easier to choose!  ;^)

(Here's to a lamb-like end-of-March!)

So definitely no walking outside for a bit until the snow melts (which it is doing today, matter of fact) but I had plenty of mail goodies to keep me company inside.

Lovely dishclothy and stitch marker gift goodness from Dee. LOVE IT! And the colors are perfect for me - purple AND lime. THANK YOU SO MUCH!! :)

I really do love a good cotton cloth to use around the house* but hate knitting with cotton (it makes my elbows weep in anger) so I never knit them very often and this makes me sad.

*the more you use them, the better they get until that day when, oops, they completely unravel from the middle or something because you've used it so much. lol

And then there was this.

ARGH! I got sucked into joining QPB.... again! 

We've doing this dance for yearsssssssss. Literally. Over a decade now! (For real.) They go 'Psst. I'll let you have all these books for $1 each  if you just promise to love me enough to buy one more over the next year' and I get ALL TWITCHY AND DO IT. And I buy the one extra book, immediately cancel the membership, they woo me for a couple more years and keep adding stuff to the deals to catch my attention (this also came with a Star Trek-y book light and an overnight bag) until, one day, OMG I'M DOING IT AGAIN. Repeat until one of is dead. Honestly, I don't know why they keep wooing me because I'm not good for any other purchases - surely this is not a good business model? It is what it is at this point, I guess. Plus, as much as I love my Kindle(s), I do still love an 'old fashioned' paper book. Books in general make me happy. 

I was particularly pleased to get the Grimm's one. I had one of those when I was kid and it was quite fascinating and...........odd. Almost creepy and very un-Disney-like. I watch that show Once Upon a Time and it renewed my interest in them, to the point where I just wish listed one on Amazon recently. I'm not sure it's good 'reading' material to just sit and read all in a go but I know I'll enjoy going through it here and there. I don't remember them verbatim from childhood but I remember snippets, like, someone stomping their foot through a floor and that being his downfall? (Rumpelstiltskin?) I should probably finish one (or all) of the 4-5 books I've already started though first, eh? lol

Well here's something that hasn't happened to me in a while! Mr. Man and his 'make the leg longer, longerrrrrrrrrrrrrr, longerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr' made me run out of yarn on these when doing the toe*. BAH! (I swear he'd be happy if I made a pair of socks long enough to pull right up to his flipping EARS! lol)

Oh well. A quick dive into my leftover bits came up with this heathered gray that blends in so well you probably wouldn't have noticed I had run out of yarn if I hadn't said anything!

*The yarn was generous enough for a normal sized pair of socks so the fault is all mine - on that count. I have to say though, this Paton's Kroy line is a total bust and I won't be using it again. It knits up nice and thick, cushy and wears well. Good price on it. etc. So what's the problem? ABSOLUTELY NO RESPECT FOR THE CONCEPT OF DYE LOT. This is the second time I've used it for socks, using matching dye lots for the two skeins, and both pairs of socks ended up wildly different. One clearly has more vibrant colors than the other and they match only in that 'kinda sorta if you blink' way. Last year with a pair for my mother and now these - same thing. Not cool. Dye lots are there FOR A REASON and the coloring is off WAY too much for a commercial yarn to be anywhere NEAR acceptable. Grrr!

Anyhoo. I think next I might tackle one of the Cookie A patterns that just came in with my red sock club yarn. I'm kinda askeered of them though. *gulp*

They come with five charts to work through. For ONE pair of socks. 0_o

I blurred this a little so you can't really read them but you don't need to read them to see the page after page after page of charts for the design. Wish me luck! Heheheh.

Off to catch up on blog reading! Have a great weekend, y'all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!