As promised . . .

Someone asked me to post some finished yarn pics. Some of these aren't going into my Ravelry stash, so they're going here. Enjoy the eye candy!

First up, Merino from HPY. Fruit Salad colorway. My bobbin filled, so I have a large and small 2-ply skein. I would guess this yarn is about dk weight. I measured the wpi at one point, but forgot to write it down.

Next is a Merino/Silk (70/30, I think) that I got from a friend's destash. I really liked spinning this one! I got about 400 yards (pre-finish) and I'd guess it's a fingering-ish weight. It's all wrapped up, so I'm not going to go measure wpi on it. Both skeins 2-plied. My bobbin just filled up fairly quickly, so I ended up putting about a quarter of it on a smaller skein.

This one is a BFL that I got in a swap. Linda dyed the top herself, and it was a fun one to spin. She did a good job dyeing, the top was not noticeably compacted or felted, so it spun like a dream. The big skein is 2-ply, the smaller is chain plied.

Enough

OK, enough with the whining being the last post on the blog. The blog is for venting sometimes, but it wigs me out to have that negative stuff stay on top for too long.

I'm working on motivation these days. Getting things done, no matter how small. Yeah, like unloading the dishwasher this morning. Right on that one (ha!) . . . Maybe this weekend we'll get the garages done! We just have to organize everything that's piled up in the small garage into the (now dry for three weeks) freshly painted garage. then we can have BOTH vehicles garaged! For the first time since the move. That will really feel good.

Hopefully somewhere this weekend, I will also get some spinning done. I'm working on my first alpaca (purchased from royal fibers on ebay). So far, it's going well. We'll see once it gets plied up and washed. I definitely made good progress on my goal this month. I started and finished 8 oz, plus a couple sample sizes, as well as at least half of this alpaca. Taught someone how to spin on their spindle at knit night this week too.

I'm knitting away on my swap socks. Just started the legs. It's a top-down pattern, but I'm using a translation to toe-up. Something got lost in the translation, and I ended up ripping a full inch out. That's a full inch on both socks, which are 90ish stitches each. Ugh. Oh well, they're working now, and looking beautiful, if I may say so myself! (J says so too. I'm not sure how I will get these out of the house!) Good thing I'm such a process knitter, because I could see myself getting attached to these. And you can bet I'm never knitting them again!!

Knitting Drama???

Yep, it sure was. I've been psyched about Sock Summit for a while now (ever since I didn't get into Loopy's Spring Fling, then heard about SS, and talked DH into taking full responsibility for the girls for the weekend while I play with sock knitting) and anxiously awaiting registration. I had my classes all chosen, and was ready for the button pushing at 9:59 this morning. Only to find out that, yet again, the technogeeks had no idea how many knitters there are out there. You got it, the servers crashed before things even got started.
I continued refreshing for at least forty minutes. Then, like an idiot, once I learned that the servers were down, and the organizers asked us to hold off until they told us it was working again - I did. I kept checking the blogs to see if things were up again. I heard on Ravelry that they were up, and went to check. EVERY class I wanted (in fact, all the classes aside from a few beginner ones) was sold out. I got angry, and then cried. And then got angry at myself for crying over a silly sock knitting convention. I mean, really. Still, I was looking forward to the weekend away, and with some people who "get" me. And a few Ravelry friends who I'll never have the chance to meet otherwise. And a weekend exploring a "new" city with my sister.
So, I was commiserating with said Ravelry friends, when one of them mentions that she was just at the SS site and everything was open again! I headed over straightaway! Unfortunately, even though there were many open classes, only one (of the three I wanted) was available.

Now I have to decide if it's worth the plane flight and hotel to go to one class and the marketplace. Phew! I'm wiped from all the knitting drama!

Mama got a new pair of shoes!

Running shoes that is. Holy cow, is that nice! Of course, I've been running with my pronation for so long, that I didn't make it very far before some muscles told me that enough is enough! They told me that they had never been used for running before, and they were done for the day. Funny. BUT my feet and hips thanked me profusely for the new shoes. I am sure the calves will be grateful, once they have had some time to get used to the idea.

I finished the sweater for S. We'll head out this afternoon to find the proper buttons for it, then I can attempt to post a photo or so.

I've been spinning. Got some pretty BFL done, for a swap. Then realized that the swap partner likes purple, not turquoise! Oops. Good thing I started some purple next. I was going to keep this stuff for myself, but I suppose I can part with it.

Bad mama

Sometimes when I run in the mornings, I think about how I'm going to blog something clever about it. Never happens. I think I must be much more creative when I'm dripping sweat, sucking wind and staring at the inside of my garage door. Or something.

On a more positive note, baby girl is much healthier this week! Yay! Healthy enough for me to tell her all day yesterday and all morning as we got ready about how she was going to the zoo with her school today. Except that it's tomorrow. Who's the worst mom EVAH? That's me.

On the knitting front, my new socks had their photo shoot today. The yarn review is pretty much written - just waiting for some washer/dryer action to be complete. Whoot!

I FINALLY started on that sweater for the little one. You know it's bad when the three year old asks, "Mom, when are you going to make my sweater? You said you would make me a sweater!" But then, when I started it yesterday she had a fit too, because for some reason she was under the impression that the orange fuzzy novelty yarn I purchased (to keep her happy at a yarn store that was a really bad place for a kid) was going to be her sweater. NO freaking way! There is no way she will ever wear that yarn outside our house! I promised her at the time that I would make her a shawl with it. Of course, I suppose I could just swell with pride when the kid wanted to wear her freakishly fuzzy sweater every day, but I would probably just die a little inside instead. I guess I really am a yarn snob. I have started her shawl and try to get two rows a day on it. Haven't touched that for several days. . . I'm having too much fun with her REAL sweater and the organic cotton yarn . . .

Random Monday Thoughts

104 degrees is really hot. Especially when it's radiating off your baby.
Motrin is your friend.
Sick babies don't like to be far from Mommy.
Barney is the spawn of Satan.

Seriously, but who could take him away from the little person in the next room, who is still hot and can't keep crackers down?

Back in the swing . . .

So, we're back from vacation. I suppose I should write a vacation report, but there's not much to report. We had dinner at what is reputed to be former President Clinton's favorite Bar-B-Q joint. It was very tasty. We had good massages, and sat in the hot springs. J, his dad and step-mom played golf nearly every day. The Mid-America Science Museum is really neat, for kids of all ages (we had 3 - 60+ covered). And I didn't get nearly as much knitting done as I had hoped to. Isn't that always the way it goes? I over plan, just so I won't run out, and then don't get even close. I need to remember to bring more mindless knitting on vacation. Cable intensive, chart intensive knitting doesn't work very well when we're at the park, or attempting to make conversation with drinks after dinner. Sigh. I got about halfway through Chart A on my Seascape Stole, and most of the Cairdeas legs done. But I didn't finish a single project. I was SURE I would be able to finish those socks. Sigh.

On a more fun note, I got several swap partner assignments while we were gone. I have some fun swaps coming up. One that requires spinning, and another that I am going to spin for. One that requires knitting, and a couple that will just get me digging in my stash for fun stuff.

I got up and went for a run this morning. It went better than I thought it would, with a week off. Now to just keep it up.