Noolie Knits

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.)

WIP's

As I mentioned on Sunday, I really have been doing some knitting and crocheting (spinning too, but I'll save that for another post).  I have a few projects that are currently occupying what little knitting/crocheting time I have managed to find. 

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Samm has a friend who just had a baby boy on Monday.  She asked me a while ago if I would make something for the baby, and since his Mommy loves monkeys, I thought the Li'l Monkey Blanket (Ravelry link) from The Happy Hooker book would be perfect. 

I am not using the yarn called for (Bernat Softee Chunky), instead I'm using Berroco Comfort.  It's a smaller gauge so I have to crochet more rows to get the correct size squares, but I think it's a much nicer yarn.  Here's a picture of about 1/2 the squares needed.

  And the squares with the monkey faces on them.

Go ahead and laugh; I can take it. Just ask my friend Eileen; she got an awful lot of entertainment out of these monkeys at Chicks with Sticks last night.

I have finished several more squares since taking those pictures; I have just two to go and then I'll join them and crochet the border.  I'm planning (hoping) to be finished by the end of the weekend.

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The next couple of projects I have to show you are using yarn that I bought while in Vermont for a knitting weekend a few weeks ago with Patti and our Manchvegas knitting friends. 

The yarn and pattern for this sweater was chosen after seeing the sample sweater at The Knitting Studio in Montpelier. 

Pattern: Child's Ruffle Sweater by Vermont Fiber Designs
Yarn: O-Wool Balance in Ruby (a lovely blend of organic wool & organic cotton)
Can you guess who I'm making this for?   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   The Reader's Wrap: (Ravelry link) The yarn was purchased at a wonderful little shop called The Vermont Yarn Shop at Plainview Farm in Plainfield, VT.  Several of our group picked up some of this yarn (we took all she had).  It's an amazingly soft cormo/silk blend from This and That Farm.  This project is currently on hold while I decide if I can really stand to knit 60 inches (20 inches wide) of almost all stockinette stitch.  I'm thinking I may pull this out and add a little patterning to it; nothing fancy, just enough to hold my interest.  We'll see; any suggestions? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~      

Wednesday Night Bullet Post

It's that time again; time for the randomness of a WNBP.  Let's just get right to it, shall we?

• Remember the sweater my friend Mary made for her great-nephew?  Well, to everyone's surprise, she actually got it packaged up and mailed before he graduated from high school (just teasing ya, Mary).  Check out how handsome the little guy looks in it.

What a doll!
 

• More kids in knits:  my great-niece, Ella, and great-nephew, Colin, in the sweaters I made them for Christmas.  Aren't they just the cutest kids?  I'm so happy that the sweaters fit them so well and yet there is enough room in them that they should still be able to wear them for at least the beginning of next winter.

• The wrap I'm knitting as a booth sample for Lark is almost finished.  Just a couple inches left, a picot edge on each end, a trip to the blocking board, and I'm done.  No progress picture yet, it looks just like the last picture only longer. 

• I've really got mixed feelings about finishing this.  On the one hand, I can't wait to see how it looks after it's blocked.  On the other hand, I'm going to be really sad to package it up and mail it off.  But, I'm really happy with my work on this project and I hope Lark will be happy that she chose me to knit it for her.

• I have enough of the Luminesence yarn in the color Redwood to knit one for myself, and that's exactly what I plan to do.  I'm thinking I'll wait until either late summer or early fall, though.  Can't knit the same pattern two times in a row.  It's a rule.  I wouldn't want to become known as a rule breaker ;-)

• Last night was Chicks with Sticks night, which requires a mindless project (at least for me).  I brought the crochet shawl I showed you yesterday and managed to add a couple of inches to it. 

• Weight Watcher's is still going well, for both myself and Samm.  I'm down 20.8 pounds!  I'm kind of surprised at how fast the weight is coming off this time around.  I'm not complaining though.

• Speaking of weight, when is it ever appropriate for a coworker to tell you that you were "not at your sexiest when you were at your thinnest" and then go on to say "you kind of started to look like a boy"?  Yep, you read that right, and yes, it was a male coworker.  How do you respond to that?

And the most important "bullet" of this WNBP:

• Please send lots of good thoughts hubby's way tomorrow.  He has an interview for a dispatcher's position at a nearby police station.  This is just the second step in the hiring process; he had to take a test about a month ago, and if he does well in the interview tomorrow, there will still be a background check and a lie detector test.  It's quite a lengthy process.