Noolie Knits

Are You Sitting Down?

I have an announcement to make and I don't want anyone to fall over from the shock of it.

Are you ready?

 

You are sitting, right?

 

 

I finally finished my Cabled Yoke Sweater!

Cabled Yoke Pullover from Rowan

Yarn:  Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride in M77, Blue Magic

Needles:  Sizes 8 and 9 circulars

There really are two sleeves there but if I didn't lay one in the back, the sweater would have fallen off the chair.    
Close up of the patterning    
  This has been a difficult color to capture; I'm not sure why. This  photo is closest to the actual color.  

I am so happy to be finished with this sweater!  I currently have just one active WIP on the needles and that is a sock.  That means I'm all set to start another project.  I plan to do some gauge swatching tonight for Clover's Christmas dress.  

 

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Before I leave you today, I want to draw your attention to something very important. 

 

 Zonda plans to walk in the Relay for Life in October and could really use your help.  She is part of a team with some of her coworkers.  They have a great team name and logo (they work in x-ray):

 

The Skeleton Crew

 

  Click the picture if you'd like to help her out by making a donation!

This & That on Thursday

How about a bit of the random today?

 ~It's now July and it's STILL raining!  Will it ever stop?

~It wouldn't be so bad if it weren't also COLD.  Yesterday was July 1st and we broke records in these parts for the coldest high temperature since 1976!  Enough already; I wan't to start breaking temps for the hottest low.

~Hubby got my pool set up early this year. 

~I was in it for a couple hours one day about 3 weeks ago (it really wasn't warm enough but at that time I was already sick of the rain and took advantage of a sunny day).

~This is our busiest time of year at work.  We are preparing our final tax assessments and need to get things ready for bills to be printed.

~Our computer server is having fits with our assessing software and keeps kicking us out of our program or not letting us get into it at all.

~It's been a long couple of days at work and today looks like it's going to be more of the same.

~Looking on the bright side - I can now spare a couple of minutes to write this post.

In knitting news:

~I finished my Crazy socks last night.

SOS'09 Pair #3 Yarn: Austermann Step 6, color #111 Herbst
Needles: size 2 1/2 dpn's
Pattern: top down, afterthought heel, stockinette stitch on 48 stitches

~Surprisingly, I was even able to match up the colors! 

~I'm not crazy about the Crazy Socks, but they'll be warm and my feet can use some warm (see above).

~Finishing this pair leaves me with just one WIP.

~The Cabled Yoke sweater is nearing completion - just one sleeve to go. 

~That neck looks a little wonky in the picture, but it's really not. 

~The "just one WIP" thing won't last long - I'm hoping to cast on for my next pair of socks tonight.

In Spinning News....

~I've got nothing.  I've done no spinning since the Spinning Bee.

~That'll change tonight because tonight is Chicks with Wheels night.

~That's all the random I have for you. 

~Have a great day.

WNBP

It's been awhile, so how about some Wednesday Night Bullet Points tonight? 

~~First things first - you still have time to enter my contest; I'm taking entries until I wake up on Friday morning (6am).

~~Check out this link and be sure to roll over the image :-)  

~~This past weekend was very busy, but very fun.

~~Patti, Sharon, Carol, and I left Friday afternoon and headed to Patti's timeshare condo at Loon Mountain.  The plan - a weekend of spinning and knitting together and attending the Granite State Knit-In on Saturday.

View from the condo

~~A couple of our other friends, Eileen and Eileen (no, that's not a typo), were supposed to come with us but couldn't make it.   That was the only downside to the whole weekend. 

~~We missed you 1.0 and 2.0!

~~I was only able to attend one of the classes at the Knit-In, but it was an awesome class.   Suzanne Federer, who used to teach at The Yarn Sellar and whose classes I've taken in the past, taught Intro. to Fair Isle knitting.  

~~She only had 2 hours to teach us, but she did a great job and I do believe I got the hang of it! 

~~I'm now contemplating what my first Fair Isle project will be.

Suzanne and Sharon

~~The weekend also included me taking a side trip on Saturday to Acton, Maine to attend my niece's graduation party.  (This would be the reason I was only able to attend one class.)

~~Said side trip involved an hour and forty minute drive each way - much of which was driving the Kancamagus Highway.  

~~I would have loved the scenic drive through the mountains had I been the passenger - as the driver, not so much.  

~~I'm a wimpy driver.

~~My niece is worth the white knuckle drive though.

Jena, the RISD grad, and her boyfriend, Andrew

~~The time spent at the condo with the girls was awesome.  The condo was spacious and comfy with enough room for us to leave our spinning wheels set up and not have to move them around if we wanted to take a break and sit on the couches.

Patti, Carol, Sharon                              Sharon, Patti, Me

~~I started my May Spunky Club fiber last Thursday night at Chicks with Wheels and finished spinning it on Friday at the condo. 

~~No picture yet because it's still sitting on the bobbin.

~~My Rainbow Tofutsie socks have gone from this:   

~~to this:   .

~~Some day I'll learn to listen to that little voice in my head when it says "It's not working; it's too small". 

~~After that failure, I decided to make plain stockinette stitch socks with the TOFUtsies.

~~My Cabled Yoke Sweater is moving along quite nicely.

~~All that remains to bed done is to knit are the sleeves, which are straight stockinette - YEEHAW!

~~That's it for now.

~~Have a great night!

WIP Wednesday on Thursday

It's my crazy busy time at work and will remain that way for a couple more months.  Add to that the fact that I'm also very busy in my non-work life - knit night, spinning night, watching Clover on days Samm works (after I get home until Jay gets home from work), or just plain playing with Clover.  This makes it really difficult to blog regularly.  I've decided not to stress too much about it and stop apologizing for it,  but I would really like to get in at least one fiber related post a week. 

This week's post was meant to be a WIP Wednesday post, but I didn't finish it in time (see above) so you're getting it today. Just pretend for a moment that it's Wednesday as I show you my current WIP's. (The ones I'm actively working on anyway; like most of you, there are plenty more that have been stashed away to take a timeout and which may or may not be ressurected at some future date). 

SPINNNIG:
 

Sereknity "Beach Glass" 4 ounces of lucious Alpaca/Merino/Silk  

I'm loving the way this is spinning up.  I split the fiber only once lengthwise to get nice long color repeats.  I intend to navajo ply in order to keep the beautiful colors intact.  The singles should be finished tonight at Chicks with Wheels. 

KNITTING:

  This is the completed back of my Cabled Yoke Pullover.   

Since taking this picture, I've completed the front up to the point where I need to begin the patterning.  It's now on hold until I finish this next item:

 

   Spring Savasana Socks (Ravelry link) by Gina House  

This is Gina's newest sock pattern (the one she gifted me last week).  While doing a partial stash organization on Sunday, I rediscovered this yarn that Patti gifted to me quite some time ago.  It is Dream in Color Classy and it is perfect for this pattern.  It's very soft and squishy and feels wonderful on my foot.  The pattern is great; it's very easy to remember the 4 row pattern repeat and it's quick.  I started this first sock Sunday afternoon and finished it on Monday!  I've started and completed the ribbing on the second sock and plan to finish that by the weekend. 

CROCHETING: 

Warning - Very Bright Photo Ahead - Use Caution when Viewing!

I haven't shown you any progress on my Crocus Wrap for a while and since it was a beautiful sunny afternoon after work yesterday, I decided to snap a picture on the deck.  Immediately after taking the picture below, my camera battery died.  Had it not died, I would have attempted to get a better photo for you.  

Crocus Wrap
My handspun Louet Northern Lights yarn in the Burning Bush colorway (which is much pretty than the picture would lead you to believe; check it out here.)

I'm enjoying crocheting this wrap;  I don't need it until mid-September so I'm just taking my time and working on it when the mood strikes.  It doesn't look so hot unblocked, but when I stretch it out to get a preview of how it might look when finished, I'm very happy.  Now I just need to lose enough weight to fit into the dress I want to wear with it!
(I should be able to do it - I've lost 11 1/2 pounds since mid-February;  just have to keep my motivation up to lose another 10.)

This and That on Thursday

How's that for a clever title?   Lame, I know.   I meant to post a WNBP last night but never managed so I have a bit of the random for you today.

~~NANTUCKET BAGG CONTEST

Lisa is having a contest and giving away two Nantucket Baggs.  All you have to do is leave her a comment on the contest post (by April 3rd) with your guess of when the pile of snow near her office will melt.  Have you seen these bags?  They are awesome.  They are so awesome that I can't believe I'm telling you about the contest.  Perhaps it's because by mentioning the contest, I get an extra chance to win.  You too can have an extra chance if you post about it.  Go read her post for all the details and to see pictures of the snow pile in question; it's really more of a snow mountain!

~~Wii
I bought a Wii system this past Saturday. The plan was to get a Wii Fit with it, but the store was all out. I went ahead and bought the system and went home and ordered the Wii Fit, which arrived yesterday.

I have a few thoughts to share about the Wii games.

  1) Wii is addictive!  I am not usually a person who gets into the video games, but this is so different.  I LOVE it!
  2) Samm may be stronger than me in real life, but I kicked her butt in boxing the first night. (We won't talk about the next time we boxed.)
  3) I hate baseball in real life, and I suck at it in Wii life.  I won't give up though; I will hit that ball if it kills me.
  4) The sports games are really good exercise; I have the sore muscles to prove it.
  5) My Mii is kind of freaky - it really looks just like me.

I also have a few thoughts to share about Wii Fit.

  1) Wii Fit and Mii are not off to a good start.
  2) Wii Fit is mean and called me fat (okay, so it called me "overweight" but we all know that means "fat").
  3) Wii Fit told me my Wii age is 54!
  4) 54 is not old.
  5) Unless you're 48!
  6) At least Wii Fit didn't make my Mii look too round, just a bit rounder than I'd like..
  7) I think I'll like Wii Fit better in a couple of months.

Which brings us to my next topic.

~~SPRING INTO SUMMER

After coming home from buying the Wii and ordering the Wii Fit, I started trying to catch up on some blog reading and read Kathy's "Spring into Summer" post.

This is a seasonal challenge to get into shape (or at least better shape) during the 12 weeks between Spring and Summer.

I think her post was written just for me.  I have been working hard trying to lose weight since mid-February.  As I said, I had just ordered Wii Fit, and it just so happens that I was measured that morning, so I just HAD to join.

I'm hoping the added motivation of working with others towards the same goal (bettering our health and fitness) will be just what I need to continue going in the right direction.

~~FIBERY PURSUITS

The spun yarn you saw on the new toy.
8 ounces 2 ply 2 skeins - ~140 yards and ~125 yards
Romney/Border Leicester "Shannon & Annie" from Brimstone Hollow Farm   ^


The beginnings of a new sweater (I plan to shorten it quite a bit).
I'm using Lamb's Pride worsted in "Blue Magic" colorway
I've just begun the patterned section.  

Crocus Bud Shawl progress using my handspun.
Notice that crochet lace looks as much like ass preblocking as knit lace does.

There's been progress on the sock I picked back up the other day; I have just a few rows to do before beginning the toe.  I won't bore you with that photo until the sock is finished. (Then I'll bore you with a single sock.)

Well, I think that's enough this and that for this Thursday (say that 3 times fast!).

Have a great day!