faeriedreamz

Bee Shawls all around! I just received my kit for Knitspot's Bee Shawl ! So wonderful! The pattern is super detailed, and the yarn from Wooly Wonka Fibers is heavenly. What a lovely color (I went with Anne the designer and chose Tupelo Gold)! I am so excited. I don't have pictures, but perhaps tomorrow I will snag some. I am definitely putting this up in my ravelry account. I was invited recently, and have started making friends and posting. I doubt I will have a chance to get projects up in there until I am closer to moving out/in. The new apartment deal is exciting, and soon, very soon, I will know when we are moving in. Ok. I lied. I took some pictures with my "ibooth" built in camera. They aren't the best ever... but they are pictures and everyone likes pictures of wool! (What, you don't like pictures of wool? Well, what's wrong with you?) MS3 is well... I was going to say coming along, but the truth is, right now it is at a grinding halt,...

Surprise surprise, I am actually working on my Mystery Stole 3. I should be working on a million other projects, but I decided to work on MS3 exclusively. I think that part of my determination is that I feel I should be much more proficient at lace than I am. In order to make myself that way, I decided that I could only carry around my MS3 stole materials from now on. (Making life much more complicated for me! ) I have to have devoted knitting time to get this done. However, I have been at least mildly successful. I just completed the first chart, and rather than tempt the knitting fates, I decided to wait until tomorrow to start chart 2.

My last purse was such a success that I am raring to start a new one! I have the colors gathered, and that is start, but I'm not sure how I am going to handle it, or what the pattern will be. I am in love with the chevron look, but I want beads too, andMy last purse was such a smashing success that I can't help but make another! I have some yarn to I think that might be too much. I will keep you updated as I work, I might decide to go for something altogether different! I also decided that I need more tank tops, because I am severly limited in my choice of cool summer tops... and I have the yarn for it. I am still in the swatching phase, and I have decided that I am going to make this pattern my very own, including the idea that everything is going to fit me. No standard pattern, but some useful information from Knitting Daily about bust darts, and I should be all set. And actually, as I wrote this post, I realized I could use the chevron pattern on this! It might just work!...

so just check it out here

Swallow tail shawl on hold for a few days... err weeks. I just knit a purse out of single ply left overs... I need to get the pics off my camera before I post it. I also just realized how easy it is to put buttons in the side bar in the blog! I could swear that it wasn't that easy before now... maybe it wasn't. Now I just have to figure out how to set up an RSS feed and blog on a bi or tri weekly basis, and we will be all set :) Oh wait, RSS is automatic... so now i just have to post regularly! I am currently working on a dishcloth (easy smeasy simple pattern) and some jaywalkers from ages ago. I am glad I started the second one as quickly as I did, it will make getting the set done easier. I haven't actually finished either sock, however. I also recently finished a green sock with blue stripes. I have the yarn ready for the second sock, but I haven't cast it on yet. I am dying to try Nona's new Sidewinder pattern , which is tempting me to buy more sock yarn... b...

Last year, I bought the Fall 2006 Issue of Interweave Knits. I immediately fell i n lo ve with Evelyn A. Clark's beautiful Swallow Tail Shawl pattern. A few years ago, visitin g Df (d arling fiancee?) when he lived in Ohio, we took a short driving trip to Erie to go to a nice yarn shop there, Cultured Purl . It was one of the nicest yarn experiences I have ever had. We got there just after she opened for the day and we got to visit a bit. Df is always so good in yarn shops! I had a credit card or money or something, and I purchased expensive yarn, that I w ould proba bly not be able to afford now! However, I treated myself to 3 skeins of Blue Sk y Alpaca. I think it is the DK weight. I no longer have the ball bands, but I recognized the yarn in another shop, and realized why I had only bought 3 skeins. I always wanted to make a shawl with the perfect blue yarn, and when I saw Swallow Tail, I thought it would be the match... But I never did cast on for it. Instead, recently...

I was just in Canada with friends. We left on Friday and stayed until late on Monday. We had a really good time at Anime North, an anime convention. (true nerds). I got to hit up Lettuce Knit difficult.) I bought some Lorna's Laces, my very first, and some lovely rovings on Monday, which is a pretty short walk from Toronto's Chinatown district. (Pictures to come soon). It was a really cute store, small, but well stocked and well managed. The owner was so nice, and she let me use the bathroom! (Maybe that sounds silly, but finding bathrooms in a city can be verying. Both were incredibly reasonably priced! I have also been working on various pr ojects. I didn't get much "travel" knitting done, despite the long drive, but I did finish (err, almost finish) a sock during the convention. I will have to add pictures of all this stuff when I am done with work! I am frustrated with the baby sweater that I was working on; and I am not sure if i am going to rip it and star...

So I think I am going to go for the blog titles that have nothing to do with status! I am lacking pictures :( BUt i have finished stuff! - Brian's stripey socks are done! - Baby Gabe's hoodie is in zipper process - Baby Charlie's hoodie is awaiting washing, blocking and zippering I am working on a hand towel for the new apartment. Oh, what I didn't mention it yet? I am moving out soon! I am very excited. My sister, boyroomie, and girlroomie are all moving in together in the complex that my boyfriend living in. Its a super nice townhouse, and the landlords seem like a really good company. I believe they are part of Natapow management. We are going to move in, hopefully, in August. Anyway, given that this will be a shared apartment, and for me, home, I wanted to give the apartment some things that would be for everyone, like hand towels for the downstairs bathroom. (and maybe the upstairs too.) I think I am also going to make some curtains for my room, out of yarn,...

After wearing my lovely green sweater on Monday, I realized that it was just too loose. i am going to undo the sleeve attachments to the body, and reknit the body, but just down the sides. I figure it will help to pull the bust in a bit. The sweater is really light weight, though, and looks really cute on me, so I am super pleased with it. I have also finally started a clapotis. I am using the yarn that I over dyed last summer; I have been intending to make this for a long time, I just never got around to it. I don't have any real expectations for this project, but I am really enjoying the color shifts. I did a nice job dyeing it , if I do say so myself. I haven't made it past the second section yet, so I am still on the increase section... but I did discover an interesting method. It was suggested that to eliminate the need for so many stitch markers, one should PURL the stitch that is to be dropped. What a clever idea! I am so grateful for the internet, and the fa...

It's not the best picture ever, but here the sweater :) A full shot will follow, this evening, I hope! This was taken with the evil built in camera on the computer. It is handy, but not all that useful for getting full head shots... or anything beyond a head shot, at least. OH I can show you my pretty yarn too.. We'll see if this works... This is the yarn I dyed last night, using Wilton Cake dye. My dye was not powder, like the article I read discussed, but I added vinegar and mixed the dye into some hot water, and it did a pretty awesome job. Also, instead of using either of the heating methods discussed in the article, I just did the microwave job I usually do :) I just dried it last night in the bathroom, and it wasn't really dry when I left for school today, but I took it anyway and skeined it up so I could carry it around and fondle the rich cerulian blue. Its some super wash Baby Ull from Dale of Norway. It was left over from a baby cardigan, so I figured it w...

Do you remember the Tempting II I started last summer? If you recall, I realized at some point that it would not fit my ample bosom without some tweaking. I have tweaked, I have revamped, I added a keyhole and a square neck that looks rocking good on me! I finished it today, and only have to weave in my ends! I am very excited, because it is super cute, lightweight, appropriate for work, and I can make sleeves to add to it that I can wear in the winter! My only concern is stretching that might occur when I wash it. Does cotton block like wool? I really don't know, because I wasn't smart enough to bother washing my swatch when I started this sweater last summer. I know that was pretty stupid, but hey, I am not known for my foresight ;) Anyway, i hope it doesn't stretch too much, and I will post pictures as soon as I can :)

I guess i should state, because I haven't yet, that I finished the purple socks for me. I really hate them, in terms of showing them off, but I love wearing them, because they are so warm. I used some very old Brown Sheep company wool that my mom found at the Salvation Army, or ABVI Goodwill years and years ago. It was a wonderful find, and the stuff is hardy; I made mid calf length socks, and there is still plenty to fix potential wearing. I am not really sure I if I will use the rest of the yarn for socks or not. I have one man's sock, but never started the 2nd man's sock... so i will have to do that sometime. The problem, is that the colors are super muted. I suppose I could try dyeing the yarn, and if it works, perhaps I will be more interested in using it. I am going to try something new for me. I like the Koolaid, but I want a wider range of colors, and because I live at my parents home, I really don't want to commit to acid dyes just yet... but this might j...

So classes are finally over, actually they have been done for a week now. I go to RIT, which runs on a quarter system. I will be starting back up on Monday, and going through to the end of May. That is so depressing. I did however, get some pictures, and that is actually the purpose of this blog post! So the first image is my brother's birthday present. One of these days I am going to make some black gloves for him. Maybe in the summer when I want a small project. The next picture is of my super cute sister wearing the fake isle hat I made. I used Patons SWS and Lion Wool instead of the recommended Noro and Cascade 220.... What can I say? I am cheap. She loves it, and it fits her better than the hat I made her for her birthday. Up next is one for me. But you just have to wait for me to finish before I give it up! I am not sure if I like the colors I chose, so I may end up giving the second one away too. I don't, however, mind the pattern, so I am willing to make anoth...

of some sort. But i am not. I am catching up on blogs, listening to Muse, and working on a crafty project. (More about that in a moment.) First, my gift hat. A friend at church was born 5 days before I was. He looks awful cold most of the time; and the other day when we were at the market, he was eyeing a rack of hats and gloves. This only took about a weekend. It is Paton's black merino, left over from my brother's birthday present. Chris tried Ethan's hat on that day, and I thought it might be a good gift for Chris. This one is different. I ribbed throughout for a nice stretchy fit. The red is some Red Heart "Soft Yarn". I don't normally use acrylic with wool yarns, but this was bright and I only needed a handful. The acrylic was purchased recently for the new project I am working on. I have to admit, I was inspired by two things. The first was this post . Then I saw this . I was enthralled. Go ahead, look at them all! I discovered that day, t...

Yesterday, before church, my father went outside to warm up the green van (my vehicle). He moved it about to get teh driveway cleared out enough to get out of it... (LOTS of snow), and realized it was leaking rich black stuff... engine oil. He was not happy. He took me to church, and my boyfriend was able to get my family back home. (Dad churches elsewhere.) Unfortunately, this means that I don't have a vehicle. Now, I really like the fact that I can't drive, because it is snowy and yucky, and because I like to knit when I am not driving; but it does make things more complicated for the rest of my family. The other thing that broke is my camera. This little baby was a steal. It was on special at Aldi, for $159. It came with 2 batteries (rechargeable lithium-ions), a car charger, a usb cable, a usb recharger, a 512 memory card, and it was 5.2 megapixel. A few weeks ago, I attempted to take a picture of the knitting i was working on, posing in the snow, for the enhancement...

This isn't kniting related, but I had to share. This is the project I have been working on for the last year. It was supposed to be done much sooner, but editting takes a long time. I have been working on and off of this project, and this is the final iteration. It goes away... and *please Lord, please* and doesn't come back until it is finally ready for the big time. Finished. Yes, printed as the book it is meant to be. (eeek!) Something I worked on is being published! (I only did layout and cover design...) woo hoo!

I am trying to get into the habit of posting, even if I don't have pictures. I think it will help my accountability with projects, as well as giving me a sense of progress. A few days ago, I cast on for a beautiful baby sweater, for a dear friend at church, who is pregnant. (If you are reading this Ms. Pregnant A., you should stop!) Her baby boy will be born at the end of February or the beginning of March. (I think he should aim for February 22, so he can celebrate with me... but his mom thinks he will be a bit later than that.) I decided to make him a knitted zip up the back hooded sweater. I found the pattern around this time in 2006, when I made one for my cousin's baby. Unfortunately the pattern is no longer available online, or I would link it. My fiance, brother, sister, and sister's friend *who is also my friend* went the the yarn store today, so I could get yarn. I am using Baby Ull, by Dale of Norway, in green and white, which are Michigan State colors. The m...

So, I am trying to write less lame blog titles. That may not be entirely possible, but I will try. Here are some recent exploits! As you can see, my math homework is attempting to compete with my lovely socks. The math homework lost.... I am using some LB Magic Stripes Denim Stripe 310-201: Denim blue, cream, light blue highlighted with red and copper I am very pleased with the striping pattern complementing t he stripes... and I love that the stripes are super random. :) This is part of the Romney I bought at the Fingerlakes Fiber Arts Festival. I was unsure of how much to get, or what kind; it was rather overwhelming. I ended going economical and buying only one kind of roving, a white Romney. I got it home, quite nervous about buying 16 oz, since I didn't know how it would spin up. I started up my wheel and was amazed. Romney was my personal spinning Godsend. I was so happy with the results. I have spun white sam ples, but not too much. I used some of the yarn for my bro...

HowManyOfMe.com There are: 0 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name? That is just good to know. I am glad that I am one in several thousand... one in a million or more? Anyway, it's a relief. However, the data base is not complete, since I have actually met several other people with my particular first name. It is unsual but not unlikely... so I doubt that this project is entirely accurate. Editted to add: http://howmanyofme.com/faq/#section1 I should read the accuracy things before I go posting random info on my blog, eh?