Noolie Knits

What's This? Knitting? On a Knitting Blog?

How unusual! 

I may not be posting much lately, but I have still been knitting.   Not making a whole lot of progress, but knitting, nonetheless. 

I'm still plugging away on Wisteria, but I'm going to save that sad story for another day.  Today, I'm going to talk about socks.

First up, a finished pair:

January socks

Toe-up, gusset heel, 3X1 rib legs
Yarn: Spunky Eclectic Spunky Speckeled, DK Weight
in Mandy colorway
Needles: Size 3 dpn's
Started January 10, Finished January 24

I bought this yarn at Amy's a couple of years ago and just got around to using it.   It's awesome yarn, so soft to knit with and to wear!  I like a nice heavy sock in the winter but don't like it to be bulky in my shoes - this fits the bill perfectly.

When one pair of socks comes off the needles, another has to go on, right?  Right.

February Socks

Pattern: Cauchy by Cookie A
Yarn: Sereknity Yarn & Fiber Sock Options Good Harbor
in Secret Garden colorway
Needles: Size 2 dpn's

This is a fun pattern to knit, not to difficult and yet not mind numbingly boring either. It's an easy pattern to memorize and it creates a fun design. Working with Heather's yarn is a joy, as usual; this Good Harbor yarn is especially soft with a very lovely sheen. I can't quite capture the beauty of the colors - the green is much greener, not so much yellowish/green. When I first started knitting this sock, I wasn't sure how I felt about the way it was pooling, but the further along I get, the more I like it. I'm thinking I might do an afterthought heel just so I can keep the colors pooling in the same manner right down the foot.

Speaking of socks, want to see why I am wearing one of my socks rolled down this week?  Those of you who are friends on Facebook already know; for the rest of you, here's the reason:

My newest tattoo, done by the awesome Tattoo George.  This picture was taken right after he finished it.   I will, of course, post another picture when it is completely healed.  It's on the inner side of my left leg down close to the ankle (thus, the reason for rolled down socks).

That's it for today.  Have a wonderful night!

Unintentional Break

I really didn't mean to take a blog break; it just kind of happened.  When I realized that it had been over a month since my last post (other than the Friday with Clover posts), I was shocked.  I kept meaning to blog; as a matter of fact, I wrote many blog posts in my mind.  Those don't really count though, do they?  Unless you can read my mind, I need to make the time to actually get those posts from my head onto the blog.

Making time to get things done just hasn't been working out very well lately.  When I have had the time, I haven't had the energy.  I'm going to make a serious effort to change that. 

Even though I haven't been around blogland very much, I have still been knitting and spinning; there's even been some crocheting. Granted, not nearly as much time spent with the needles, hooks, and wheel as I'd like, but some. 

As you can imagine, there has also been a lot of new and exciting changes with Clover.  You got a glimpse of one of the changes in the last post.

 I don't want to bore you to death with one very lengthy post filling you in on everything at once, so I think I'll break it down into several smaller posts. 

Tonight's post will be all about the FO's (don't get too excited, there aren't very many).

First - A Sweater for ME:

Pattern:  Metro Pullover by Oat Couture Yarn:  Plymouth Yarn Galway Colornep (the color doesn't show very well in this shot; it's a lovely olive green with flecks of red, yellow, and blue) Needles:  Size 8 and 9 Mods:  The only modification I made was to knit this in the round to the arm holes.
I picked up the perfect buttons for this from the Malabar Glass booth at Harvestfest, which was held last month outside my office.  I wasn't sure at first, but once on the sweater, it was obvious that they were made for it! 

I Love this sweater; it fits perfectly and I've already worn it a few times since finishing.

Second- I hope you're sitting down for this one:

Samm's Sweet Socks   STARTED:  February 20, 2008 FINISHED:  November 11, 2008 (yep, you read that right - February to November for one pair of socks) Yarn:  "Sweet Clover" bamboo/merino, (dyed by the fabulous Heather of Sereknity and Serenkity Boutique) Needles:  Size 1 1/2 dpns Pattern:  Standard cuff-down sock with eye of Partridge flap heel
I honestly didn't think I'd finish a single pair of socks this year and then I suddenly felt the need to finish these. I'm glad I did. They are beautiful socks (thanks to Heather's beautiful dye job) and there's enough yarn left to make some matching socks for Clover. Just have to get around to starting them.

Third: Two FO's in one.

Part One - Clover's Hat

Pattern:  Thorpe by Kirsten Kapur Needles:  size 9 Mods:  Added a chin strap with button instead of the braided ties Yarn: My Handspun, which brings us to...   Part Two - Neapolitan

4 ounces "Neapolitan" Merino/Silk 80/20 fiber from Spunky Eclectic Spun 2-ply - approximately 66 yards bulky weight (well, actually it's a little thick and thin, but mostly thick)

This spun up so incredibly soft that all I want to do with it is snuggle it. But, I decided that a nice warm hat for Clover might be a more appropriate use for it.  I think I made the right decision; the hat is incredibly soft and fits her perfectly.

I think that's enough for one post. More catching up next time. I promise I won't wait another month; I'm going to shoot for at least one more post before the next Friday with Clover.

Goodnight!

Show and Tell

As I told you yesterday, I received a couple of packages in the mail this past weekend and they're just so good that I have to share them with you.

I won one of the daily prizes from Barbara Bretton over at Romancing the Yarn.  Check out how generous she was:

Included in the package were her book, Just Desserts, (which will be my next pool read), a skein of Noro Silver Thaw. and 2 magnets of her bookcover for Casting Spells.  Thank You, Barbara!

April's kitty, Andy, needed some vet care and to help cover the costs of that care, April is selling some of her wonderful stash.  It looks like she still has more, so go check it out here (Ravelry link).  I purchased a skein of Lorna's Lace's Shephard Worsted (It's much more red than this picture shows). 

 When I opened the pacakage, there was a little surprise in there; a pattern from Blue Sky Alpaca called One Fish, Two Fish.  I can't imagine why she'd think I'd like that ;-)

Thanks April, you're the best!  I hope Andy is back to his old self now :-)

I also promised to show you what else followed me home from Amy's yesterday.  It really wasn't all that much.  I couldn't leave without a little bit of fiber, now could I?      This is 4 ounces of Merino/silk in the Neapolitan colorway.

And since Alice is going to be spending some time with Patti, I really had to get her some fiber too.

This is 4 ounces of BFL in the Castaway colorway.

One last thing followed me home; a beautiful new spindle.  Just look at this:

Tell the truth; could you have left it behind?

Look What Followed Me Home

I went to Amy'swith my friend, Sharon, today and look what followed me home:

Nope, she's not mine to keep; I'm renting her for a few weeks to check her out. I have to tell you though, I think I'm in love! She spins like a dream, is small and very portable, fits perfectly in my backseat, and is cute as a button! What's not to love?

I thought I'd try the clown puke fiberon her, but  I've decided that I really just don't like that fiber. It's okay when I spin it on the spindle, but I tried it on Alice and then on the Ladybug and I'm just not enjoying it. It's not the colors (bright as they are); I think it's just the fiber; it just doesn't seem to like being spun on a wheel (or maybe it just doesn't like me).

Anyway, I took that off the bobbin and decided to try some BFL that I bought from Amy at SPA. What do you think?

Pretty, yes? It's the Cheeky Monkeycolorway.

A new spindle and a little more fiber also followed me home, but I forgot to take pictures of those (yeah, I'm brain-dead). I'll show you those tomorrow, along with a couple of special packages that came in the mail over the weekend.

Have a great night!

WNBP

YAY for Wednesday and the WNBP format that the Sheep so graciously allowed me to steal from her.  Let's get right to it, shall we?

• Last night was our weekly Chicks with Sticks knit night (I just typed knit knight) which I look forward to every week.  I was especially looking forward to it this week because I knew we were going to have a very special friend visiting us.  Melissa was in Maine visiting her brother (the best weatherman ever even if he is predicting a nasty weekend for us) and decided a trip to The Yarn Sellar was in order.  Unfortunately, Rusty stayed with Melissa's brother and nephew for some male bonding time, so I didn't get to see him.  I'm pretty sure he begged her not to bring him; I don't think he really likes me very much. 
• Another member of our group decided to grace us with his presence. Mel's been very busy lately and we haven't seen much of him.  He's been terribly missed and we were all very happy to see him last night!  He showed us the beginnings of his gorgeous kilt hose (we even got to see it on his rather sexy leg!).
• Progress has been made on the lace wrap; I've completed the first of 11 repeats of the second chart.  I brought it with me last night, but I'm not stupid enough to think I can knit lace at knit night.  Fellow chick, Kit, knits lace at knit night all the time and it never ceases to amaze me how she can concentrate!
• I only had 1 other project on the needles, a sock, and I haven't really been feeling like knitting socks lately. (You may have noticed that I've not knit a single pair of socks this year!) 
• I had to find something else to knit, but what? "V" was the logical choice.  It's Amy's V-neck pullover pattern that came free with the purchase of this gorgeous yarn at SPA.  I'm cold all the time and the colors are "Spingy" enough that I'll still be able to wear it once I finish it. 
• It will be my Tuesday night knitting and "taking a break from lace" knitting until it is finished. Of course, I gabbed so much last night that all I managed to accomplish was the 6 rows of ribbing and about 10 rows of stockinette.  Sounds like a lot, doesn't it?  Don't be fooled; this pattern starts out with the sleeves.  Obviously, that's not enough to post a picture; that will have to come later.
• Weight Watchers has been going well; as of last Saturday, I've lost a total of 14.4 pounds (in 7 weeks).  Like I mentioned the last time I posted about WW, it really does help to have someone else on program in the house.  Samm's doing incredibly well, too; she looks fantastic!
• Another thing that has helped immensely with my motivation lately, is the Ravelry group "Less W8 in 08".  I'm currently involved in a competition in that group.  There are 4 teams of 5 people and we each earn points for eating fruits and veggies and for exercising.  Last week was the first week and I did pretty well in the fruit and veggie department, but was sorely lacking in the exercise dept. 
• I'm working on getting my exercise mojo back. Samm and Clover met me  at lunch today, and we went for a half hour walk and I went to the gym with Patti tonight, so that'll earn me (and my team) some points!  I'm hoping Samm will come walk with me a few days a week at lunch time; it felt pretty good.
• I've saved the most important (in my opinion) bullet post item for last.  Yesterday, I was reading my good friend, Dana's, blog, and she got me to thinking.  I know, hard to believe, but every now and then I do think.  She wrote about how we often put much unnecessary pressure on ourselves to do so much more with our craft, than is reasonable.  Please, you really MUST read her post; she says it much better than I.  Go ahead, go now; I'll wait.
• Dana has decided to stop the madness, and set four simple goals for herself, and I have decided to do the same.  With her permission, I reprint those goals for you to read and think about.

1. I will enjoy knitting first and foremost;
2. I will not press myself to complete the project;
3. I will not apologize when my life supercedes my knitting time a.k.a. "if it takes me twelve months to finish, that's perfectly fine;" and
4. I will commit to no more than I can reasonably accomplish.

I'll end on that note.  Have a great night!

WNBPOTM

Wednesday Night Bullet Post On Thursday Morning.  No excuses; just didn't get it finished in time for Wednesday night.  I have a totally random list of stuff to share with you; more so than usual.  Here goes:

• First, thanks to all of you who commented on Mary's first sweater in the post of a couple days ago; I forwarded every comment to her and I think you guys really made her day :-)  In case you didn't see it, here's a comment she left for you.
  

  "To all of you lovely knitters.....
  Thank you for your encouraging words and kind comments....I couldn't have done it without Noolie! The card will read "Made with love by Aunt Mary and Noolie Julie Schramm" LOL
  Now I have to start a pink one for my first granddaughter, Olivia, who was born on February 13th. I think I'll make a size 4T....sorry Jules, here I go again."

• I hope I didn't offend anyone with the mole-rat post; I was going on the assumption that you guys don't offend easily or you'd have left me a long time ago.  It's just that when I received it in an e-mail from Patti, I HAD to share it with you.  I also had to share it with my two male coworkers, but for some reason, they didn't laugh nearly as hard as I did.  Go figure. 

• The only one who really seemed offended was Samm; so much so that she left me a comment for the first time ever.  Yes, it's true; we used to have rats as pets as she mentioned. Let me tell you, they really did make wonderful pets.  They are such snuggly little guys; you can't help but love them (once you get over the tail, that is).  Oh yeah, and the boy rats - well, let's just say there was no mistaking that they were boys; they drag their balls behind them, they're so big. The difference between our cute little ratty friends and the naked mole-rat is fur; our rats had fur and didn't look anything like a dick :-)

• Speaking of balls, you might not know this, but Patti used to have some pretty big balls.  Not anymore though.  Now she has this:
  

• Isn't that a gorgeous sweater?  Of course the pattern is Amy's Big Ball sweater pattern and the yarn Patti used was in the colorway "Riverwalk".

• Samm made some gorgeous stitch markers last night; I woke up this morning and there was a baggie with a ton of them on the stove with a note from her.  I, of course have no pictures yet; I'll have to show you tomorrow.

• I also have no pictures of the two new projects I've started (who can start just one at a time?).

• I started a neck warmer for hubby from my handspun (because Brenda says you need a plan for your handspun, so that's what I planned). I really like the way it's coming out.  I'm just kind of winging it as far as a pattern goes.

• I started the lace wrap for Lark.  Truth be told, I started it a couple of times.  First I cast on with Addi Turbo's and did a few rows, fighting every ssk (there are a lot of ssk's).  Then I thought to myself, "Self, didn't you use bamboo when you made that lace vest and you didn't have such a problem with the ssk's; why not try those."  So I switched to the bamboo needles and did a couple rows.  Not only did I still have a problem, but somewhere along the way, I had dropped a stitch and it fell all the way to the first row (all 6 rows, big deal).

• What a difference the right needles can make!  I got myself some Addi Lace needles and started again last night.  OMG, I have to tell you;  it's like knitting an entirely different pattern.  Those ssk's are a piece of cake!

• The pattern and the yarn are both wonderful to work with, and now with the lace needles; I'm thinking this wrap is going to be a true joy to knit!

• I'll have pictures of my projects for you soon; promise.  Neither are anything to look at yet.

• I'm still having a huge problem keeping up with my blog reading.  Do you think it's even possible at this point?

Well, I guess that's enough randomness for one day.  Have a great one!

A Wonderful Day

Brenda and I took a ride up to Amy's place this past Saturday and we weren't alone.  In the back seat, strapped in nice and safe, were our spinning wheels.  Brenda had asked Amy when we were there for her Grand Opening last fall if she had any classes for the in-between beginner and intermediate spinner.  Amy was kind enough to put together a class for us covering whatever we felt we needed.  If you ever get the chance to take a class with Amy, you really mustn't let the opportunity pass you by.  She's a great teacher, and she didn't even laugh at me (much).

We learned the short draw, long draw, modified long draw, and on the fold drafting techniques.  We spun with a wool blend, silk, and soy silk.  We tried to spin at different ratios (Brenda did, I tried but had a bit of an issue with my wheel).  We learned the difference between top, roving, and batts; we learned how to make and spin from a rolag.  We learned the difference between Woolen and Worsted.  Oh my, we learned so much!

We worked on our plying techniques (I had been using the "Wingit" technique).  With Amy's help, I was able to see what I need to work on to get an evenly plied yarn.  Once our singles were plied into a 2ply yarn, we learned to cable ply from a center pull ball.  I'm not so sure I'd call that process "fun"; that center pull ball sure did like to tangle up, which may have caused some swearing.   I did love the resulting yarn though, and it was good to learn how to ply from a center pull ball, but I think that whenever possible, I'll be using 2 bobbins! 

4 ply cable yarn
Fiber was purchased from Heather; Falkland wool, I forget the colorway name but it's beautiful.

We ended the class learning how to Navajo ply which was FUN, FUN, FUN!  I really enjoyed that.  It's nothing but crocheting a chain with your hands; being a long time (over 37years) crocheter, this came easily to me, and the yarn it produced is great (okay, so mine isn't great yet, but it will be)!  I'll definitely be using this technique again and again.

Just a small amount.  We spun the singles while we were there from Amy's wool blend in her Grand Opening colorway.

I learned a few other things while I was there.  For example, do not spin from a glider (yes, I was spinning in my glider rocker).  I learned that I need to sit further away from my wheel; what a difference that makes.  I learned that I need to let the yarn feed in quicker in most cases to control the overspinning.  I also learned that I want a double treadle wheel for my next wheel :-)

Thank you so much for a wonderful class, Amy! I really enjoyed the day.

A Fiber Filled Day

This afternoon, Patti, Brenda, and I took a trip up to Amy's for her  Grand Opening Sale-abration.  What fun!    We spent a couple of hours oooo-ing and ahhh-ing over all the gorgeous yarns and fiber.  There were several wheels set up for everyone to try.  I tried, and really liked, the Victoria (once I got the hang of the double treadle).  It's such a cute little wheel.   Patti tried her hand at spinning and came home with a new spindle and some fiber (gotcha!). 

So, wanna see what I came home with?  Of course you do.

Just a little stash enhancement; Ruby especially likes the Alpaca :-)

Details:

The Yarn

Big Ball Yarn, Color- Purple Haze.  This will become another Big Ball Cardigan.

Alpaca Naturals yarn; sport weight in a gorgeous natural brown.  This will eventually become a sweater for me.

"Grand Opening" colorway in Skinny Sock.

and the Fiber:

From the front:  Heather Batt - BFL, color - First Flower
2 Felters Packs - Summer & Spring (I'm not needle felting; I'm going to spin some thick singles and make some colorful felted "tropical" fish)
and 1 Pound of BFL in the Dogwood colorway


There was one other purchase; look very closely in the first picture and you'll see it - it's a Turkish Drop Spindle (I took the picture before I opened the package and put it together).  I tried one Amy had out and I really liked it; I especially like the idea of having a center pull ball when I'm done with the spinning.

 

It was a lot of fun.  There's not much better than spending time with good people surrounded by yummy, fibery, goodness!

There has been knitting going on around here, some of it successful, some not so much.  Details next post.

A Trip to Spunky's

On Saturday, we went to see Amy's shop in Lisbon.  Patti (blogless, we'll have to change that) and I met Gina, Lora, Melissa, and Donna (also blogless) at the Yarn Sellar (Chris and Ericka met us in the parking lot as we were leaving) and we headed up to Amy's, picking up Brenda along the way. 


When we arrived at Amy's, the first thing we saw was an incredibly breathtaking view (of course, being the lazy blogger I am, I didn't take any pics, but Gina took plenty.  Make sure you check out her post about the trip).  Amy's daughter, Moira, came running to greet us and Gina got the biggest hug from her.  What a sweet kid; she even picked lilacs for all of us.


After saying our hello's and chatting for a couple minutes, we all headed into the store.  We were immediately immersed in the most beautiful colors!  Amy really does create magic with colors.  The shop is small right now, but she's planning to move it into a bigger space soon.  That'll be an excuse for us to take another trip up there (like we need one).  The shop reminded me very much of going to SPA and returning time and again to Amy's booth; I just can't get enough of all that gorgeousness.


I didn't do too much damage though. I did manage to stay within the amount I had allotted for purchases. Of course it helped that Amy had a big basket of yarn on sale!  Thanks, Amy :-)


Enough with the talking, eh?  You want to see the loot, don't you? Okay, the very first thing I picked up was something for the baby:

It's a Lambie Bank; isn't it adorable? It was the first thing I saw when I walked in and I fell in love with it. I remembered that before Samm was born, Chris and I found a really cute, very round, Piggy Bank for her and she still has it (although it now has a few chips in it). Samm asked me what the baby was going to do with a bank; silly girl, she's going to collect the money that Nonnie puts in it :-)

There's also this yarn that followed me home:

On the left, from top to bottom we have: Chubby Sock, color Bird Face; Super Nova, color Soylent; Chubby Sock, color Gunsmoke
And on the right, from top to bottom: Beefy Sock, color Navajo Gems; Chubby Sock, color Sangria; Speckles, color Mandy

I brought this home, took this picture, and stuffed it all in this great bag that my hubby gave me a couple of weeks ago:

All before he even saw it :-) Not that he'd mind; he's really very good about my yarn purchases. At least he never says anything about them. Maybe he's just given up; who knows. When I first started acquiring a stash, he'd ask me why I needed more yarn (silly boy), but he doesn't even blink an eye now. This bag is fantastic; not only is it the coolest looking kitty bag, but it is huge!  Even with all that yarn I just put in there, I have plenty of room for much more (hmmmm....).  Plus, check out the zipper pull and wooden kitty tag:

Aren't they great?!

One last thing about the visit with Amy. She gave me some tips on spinning on the spindle and I practiced a bit later that night. And guess what; I think I just might win the battle of Spindle vs. Noolie! I plan to practice a little bit each night until I see something that resembles useable yarn. Thanks so much for your help, Amy!


If you're ever in the area near Lisbon, Maine, you really must go see Amy's shop. In the meantime, you can always have a virtual Spunky visit :)


Now, I'll leave you with this; I've seen it on many blogs and decided to give it a shot.

Noolie -- [noun]: A person of questionable sanity who starts their own cult 'How will you be defined in the dictionary?' at QuizGalaxy.com

A cult of fiber worshippers, perhaps?