WIP Wednesday and Yarn Over

Sorry, just don't feel like it today...I've been kinda run down with the stuffies, coughing and sneezing...I also finished my last Nerd Wars project and posted it yesterday...

so even though I have many WIP's, the only thing I've worked on is a boring sock....which when I have the time will have to show and explain, because there is an issue with it....

so along with the stuffies I am just tired all the time! 

And I'm not really reading anything at the moment, unless you count the two US magazines I read last night....just kind flipping through things...

So that's it from me today...no linky...but I'll go visit everybody else when I get home...need to make sure I get to work early...parking is prime right now...

Rainy Grey Days

When it's a rainy day, I spend the day doing this...

It started early this morning and continues...AND I took a nap for about an hour when I got home...so I think I need to go to bed....hmmm should I try to start tomorrow's WIP post?

Hoarders

Another zinger from Matt Paxton:  “We took out 8000 pounds of poop.  That’s a lot of poop.”  Said so seriously!  It cracked me up!

Yes, I watch Hoarders, just finished tonight’s episode, which was really gross and filled with poop, dead cats and black mold….

But I enjoy watching it…see I know I have hoarding tendencies (have you seen the stash? and the books? and the clothes? and the…well anyway…)

I will NEVER let it get to that point and that is one reason I do watch Hoarders…and oh yeah I helped clean out an aunt’s house.  She is a hoarder.  Literally there were paths to each room and towers of things..it was my first realization that this issue does exist in my family. She moved into a nice clean house…I hear it is back to the way the old place was when she moved…

Packrats, that’s what we are called before it becomes an issue. …and really I picked a bad profession, as teachers have tons of STUFF….

But Matt Paxton, he has some zingers…and I just discovered he has a podcast..which can be crude, but also funny….I read a review of Matt awhile back and I agree with it…

Stash Sunday 3

Today was a “try to organize the stash” day again.  I had bought three new tubs…here they are:

The top tub has yarn that is destined for a specific project….the middle tub is my Lorna’s Laces and some Malabrigo, and the bottom tub is my Yarn Club’s stash….yeah I added three new tubs….I really need to work from the stash for awhile…

I also dug out my basket…

It actually has projects in project bags with the patterns…these are projects that have NOT been started yet…It had gotten kinda buried, so now it is out and in the open…

Now I need to work on some squares, as that is the last challenge for me this month in Nerd Wars….

If anyone is interested to join me in Stash Sundays, let me know and I’ll do a linky thing….

Feeling Special?

So yesterday I received this in the mail…

I won a skein of yarn from Moose Manor Hand Paints.  But what’s so neat about it is that it is a colorway for me….I told her what I liked and this is my colorway!  It even says so on the back..”Custom Colorway for T.”  What’s also neat is she will be the new main dyer for Tsarina Tsocks…
It’s also got a bit of sparkle to it, with a bit of metallic running through…

I love it!  First thing I said upon opening it was, “I likey!”
The day before I received my last shipment for “Who’s Your Doctor” from Nerd Girl Yarns.  I missed signups for the next round…

It is “Screwdriver, a Sonic One and Other Stuff.”  It’s also mainly green, the best color evah!
Although I have tried yarn diets before…I am going to try and not buy until the CT Sheep and Wool in April, EXCEPT for the online clubs I belong to….I figure I really need to create from the stash, as it is slowly eating up the real estate in my apartment and my apartment is small…..AND I’ve been on a finish the WIP kick and have finished up several projects this month…yeah me!

Friday FO’s!

I finished it last night! Finally!  It seemed like it was the never-ending ball of yarn!

I think I like it as a hood.  There is too much drape as a cowl..

It is so soft, but not sure about warmth…so we’ll see how much use it gets.  But I love the color and can wear it with just about anything…

Also last night I finished a hat for a former student.  Last year I had the crazy idea to make hats for my students…I had 52…I made 6 (I think) and noone was wearing them, so I stopped making them.  But I had one student who really wanted one.  I had started it, but never finished it…so here is H’s hat.

As always check out the other FO/Fiber Friday links…

Tami’s Amis, Wisdom Begins in Wonder, and Natural Suburbia

Happy Thanksgiving!

Growing up Thanksgiving was always going to my Aunt Kathy and Uncle Bill's in Brooklyn.  We'd all pile in the car very early, arguing over who is sitting where and head out.  We'd get to their house and wake them up.  Aunt Kathy would make breakfast for everyone.  Then we would head out to Manhatten for the parade.  It was always cold....

After the parade, we'd go back to Brooklyn and hang out.  The kids would watch tv or play with our cousins, Debby and Tracy.  Bill Jr was always much older and didn't really play with us.


Then we'd eat, visit some more and head home....That is always what Thanksgiving is to me....

Once we were in high school, my brother and I asked if we could stay home, so that we could go to the annual Turkey Day game against the rival high school.... and we didn't go to Aunt Kathy's again.  She now lives in Florida and I miss those times...

Happy Thanksgiving!

WIP Wednesday and Yarn Along

(sorry crappy shot..it's 5:45 am here and raining!  I wasn't going to post one today, but started reading some and decided to post, even though you have seen this previously)

The silk cowl is almost finished.  I have that little ball left.  Since I am just following a basic rolled cowl pattern, not sure when to stop to bind of....I also think the cowl will lay more in layers than in a "roll," but we will see when it is done.  Hopefully will finish tonight....

The book is really good...Ms. Priest led an amazing and very full life! I'm glad I met her before she passed away last year....

As always for other WIP's and book talk, go to Yarn Along or Tami's Amis

The Reflex

was my favorite Duran Duran song, what about you?

One of our vocabulary words was record….kids weren’t sure, so I brought in my Duran Duran Arena album…they wanted to hear it…I went and bought this…

and listened to it on the way home (no I don’t have an mp3 player or an ipod or anything else I can download to, besides my computer…I still like discs, compact and video…damn it!)

So they will hear it tomorrow and then I may have them write a compare/contrast pieces on my music vs their music…what do you think? And I get to listen to some more Duran Duran…

How about some? (Can’t find the “official” Reflex video, so here’s another favorite)

LYS–Madison Wool

Madison Wool underwent a change of ownership back in June…..and now it is a fun, funky shop with a lot of new and interesting yarns….(I enjoyed my first trip there, too, I blogged here about it, but there is definitely a different vibe)
Dayna, the new owner is also known as The Crafty Scientist and spins up some fun yarn.  I recently used a skein of her yarn for my friend’s baby hat.

Today I headed back down there to pick up a copy of Coastal Knits…It’s about an hour away from me, but it’s a nice drive with a great end point.
Here are some new yarns that Dayna has spun….
I love how she presents the yarn in her store….it’s not a huge store, but it is chock full of stuff….but you don’t feel claustrophobic, as there is plenty of room to move around and discover all the little treasures…
Needle felting kits and supplies
Mocha’s Fibers, a local farm (with some great yarn!)
More local, indie yarn
Lots of Manos (who doesn’t love Manos?) and other well known yarns…
This is a cowl made from Misti Alpaca, which I really, really, REALLY wanted, but did not buy, as I am going to try and craft from the stash….But Dayna was nice enough to give me the pattern, so I may use it on the Misti Alpaca, I already own!
I love how it is displayed, in baskets and boxes and drawers…
There is so much to discover, you really need to take a trip for yourself….(Psst – there’s Habu on those shelves!) Plus it’s a quick hop, skip and a jump from I95, so if you’re traveling through CT on I95……



I’m really looking forward to the time when I can join them for a Stitch and Beach, sounds like a blast! 

Stash Sunday

Today's dive into the stash is Blue Moon Fiber Arts Luscious Silk...it's the one in yesterday's craptastic WIP shot (as it was getting dark)

 I've only gotten a little farther on the project.  But I did use it for this project:

The silver on my Stargate hat is made with this yarn....so now I have both crocheted and knitted with this yarn.  I picked it up because of the color, as I wanted something silver to represent the Stargate.

Blue Moon Fiber Arts is famously known for Socks that Rock (which I also have several of) but I must say this silk is just G.O.R.G.E.O.U.S!!!  It's gorgeous feeling and it's gorgeous to work with...no splitting in either crochet or knitting....no frazzly bits escaping and going up your nose to make you sneeze.....

It is a 2-ply hand dyed 100% silk....you get about 360 yards of it (the website says 218, but my ball band says 360..hmmm)....The color I am using is called "Manly yes, but I like it too!"

The stitch definition is really nice.  The only thing I am concerned is the long -lasting wear and tear on it, as it is silk.  But if I take good care, as we all should take care of our handknits, I think it will be fine...

See - Told You!

It would turn into something!

It's not quite there yet.....but I chose to knit it, instead of crocheting...since I just finished my last big knit project....and I love this yarn!

Dipped Infinity Scarf

I finally finished the Dipped Infinity Scarf by Laura Chau.  I love the gradience of it.  It was a kit that I bought from Dirty Water Dyeworks, after seeing it a couple of times.

The sun is just coming up, so the pictures are a little on the dark side.

This was my biggest knit so far…the pattern was easy, once I got used to it…but my tension was all over the place…

I started it in June as my dissertation for Nerd Wars and finished it last night.  I am happy with it…

For more, head over to

Finished!

I finished my Dipped Infinity Scarf...will try to get pics in the am. but it needs to be blocked....whew...longest knitting project so far!

And really finishing in crochet is so much easier than the whole binding off thing in knitting!

WIP Wednesday and Yarn Over

Since it is the final week to turn in grades, what I’m reading this week is lots and lots of student work!

And I have not time to work on any projects, BUT I can think about projects…that ball of grey is Blue Moon Fiber’s Luscious Silk and it will become something this weekend…..

Head on over to Tami’s Amis and Yarn Over for more books and projects

New England Fiber Festival

So in the midst of my powerless week, I drove up to Springfield, Mass to attend the second annual New England Fiber Festival.

I had mentioned I was going and wish I had gotten a room to spend the weekend.  The hotels were all booked because of the power outage.  But luckily, Meg offered me the pull down couch in her room.  Yeah!  So I joined a bunch of strangers for the weekend….and I was warm, and I ate, and I laughed and I crocheted, and I knitted and I made some friends!  They are an awesome bunch of people!!

This is Kermit and a friend. She shares a blog with her sister.

There was LOTS of junk food!  I love Swedish Fish!

I met up with my friend, Laura and her Hubs and daughter on Saturday and walked around the festival.

Madcolor was there in her awesomely AWESOME granny square dress!

  She was also with the group at the hotel.  It was great seeing her again.  The women has so much ENERGY!!!

See this yarn?  It’s Kama Suutra.  I walked away from this last year and thought about it a lot, so had to buy a skein this year….

A friend, Karen’s alpacas…they were hungry and I couldn’t get a good shot of them…I think this is Paco and Vegas.  I wrote their names down, but damn if I can find it!

Some alpacas were planking

It had a heavy chain around it’s neck, I wonder if that was why?

Some spinning demonstrations..

Look at this!  It was so freaking gorgeous!  It is…

Fun animals!  I think this was the one with the really awesome owls…I meant to buy one, but forgot to go back..

Look at the Llama chair!  Pretty cool!  Such a great day and such an awesome weekend!  Then my month went steadily downhill from there!

Nothing to see

I have nothing to post today...or nothing I can think of....so maybe just a little LOLcats

And

The Winggirl and I were just saying that when we headed out to go shopping.  She kept turning her seat warmer up....A warm tushy is so very nice!