Hint # 2 and something new

Here's SotSii up through hint 2. I finished it Sunday and went ahead and blocked it. It's really pretty. Hint 3 came out last Friday and I've seen several pics of folk's shawls up through 3. I think it looks a little snakey but I can tell that it moves back out after hint 3 so I'm sure it won't keep looking like that. I think it's beautiful! It also feels nice in the hand, which will be great when it's wrapped around me! Yay for Secret of the Stole 2!

This is what I've been doing this week instead of the stole hint 3. I'm designing a scarf for a friend. I bought the yarn first and then went on a pattern hunt. It is sport weight yarn so I was looking at all these patterns that I knew would take me until well into Spring to finish.

I found the perfect pattern in my Crochet Scarves book. I know how to crochet! I started working and realized that knowing how and being good at it are 2 totally different things.

I went on another hunt and found a great pattern in my "Encyclopedia of Stitchery". It's a knit stitch that looks like a crochet shell pattern. Yay! I did some swatching (pictured below) to see how many stitches to cast on and how much of a border it needed. There was an error in the pattern in the book but I found a correct version online. Love the internet! Hopefully I'll be able to post the pattern for the scarf for you here once I get it all worked out.

I'm pretty sure it'll be a beaut'!

And the first hint...........

Here's my completed first hint!!!!

I can't tell you how thrilled I am to have gotten this far! How sad is that? It really is an easy knit so far and I think I'll be able to do it in these small chunks. I finished this earlier in the week and today the second hint was released. I'd better get crackin'!

SotSii

I'm a joiner! Well, this time I am. And instead of just watching the pattern pieces come out for this knit-a-long like I did last time, this time I'm actually knitting it! Instead of using lace-weight yarn on size 3's as suggested, I'm doing fingering weight on size 5's. I am loving how it's turning out! Fingering is much easier to handle than lace for my first real lace project. Well, my first one that I actually have a hope of finishing. I'm using undyed Superwash yarn from Yarntreehouse, an eBay seller from whom I get my Rhythm yarn.......superYUM! I got 10 balls of the white superwash for about 20 bucks. You can't beat that with a stick!!!

Another first for me.... I did the swatch!

I had to since I was using a different yarn and all that. It's about 4.75"x7.5" after blocking, which isn't really much bigger than everyone else's. I'm planning to dye the stole whatever color it looks like it needs to be when it's all done.....unless it needs to be white. I know this isn't the best way to dye your yarn, but it's my stole and I'll dye it however I want! So :^P

A Poem for You

The Knit Before Christmas

‘Tis the night before Christmas and tho there’s no snow,
Moonlight on bare trees can still mean “Ho, ho, ho”.
The dogs are all sleeping, hubs just went to bed.
“Don’t eat all the cookies,” the last thing he said.

My fingers are weary, my eyes are both bleary
And early tomorrow I’ll fake “bright and cheery”.
But late through this night I will knit on these knits
For all my relations and their little chits.

Hats, scarves and washcloths, socks, mittens, sweaters,
What was I thinking? I should’ve known better.
There’s never enough time to get it all done
And most of these projects will never see sun.

“The thought is what counts,” is what most people say.
I think that next year I shall say it this way:
“I love you sincerely. I’ve thought long and hard.
This year I’m expressing my love with
Gift Cards!”

-Teresa Thomas

Swap!

I received my Christmas Swap package yesterday!!!! It was chock full of goodies...most of which I was sorta thinking I needed and some of which I had no idea I needed so badly! :-)

I got some On Line sock yarn (Yay stripes!!!) in City? colorway, some Australian Merinos Lame', silver with metalic bits. So, so , so gonna make these into Rainy Day socks that will be "Snowy Day" socks! Also Andes wool...looks sport weight in a soft yellow and grey colorway....official color name? 08. K. That bag also contained some red and green Kool-Aid, presumably for dying up some Christmas yarn.....which I was actually considering doing. (how'd she know?)

Also. Two pair of holiday earrings....which I've been wanting because I got a cute holiday necklace and needed earrings! "Handmade by" tags. Didn't even know I needed them!!!!! So pumped about these. A beautiful gingerbread house ornament with family name, several sock patterns printed off for me, sweet snowman pin (to go with the earrings and necklace, ya know) and some absolutely gorgeous christmas stitch markers. Again, I had no idea how much I needed Christmas stitch markers but now I know.....and I have some!!!

Yay for Annise! She's da BOMB!!! (that's good, Mom. trust me.)

Got my shirt.

Knitting nerds unite!

Stitches East

Yesterday after work I met up with my friend Geraldine, my knitting sensei....the woman who taught me to knit!

G-dine in the yarn buffet that was Woolstock (there was even Noro in there!).

We drove from her place to Baltimore for Stitches East and really, really had fun. We were worried about onlyhaving 4 hours but I think it was just perfect. We saw most of everything and any more time would have forced me to....well let's just say I decided to feed my children this month instead.

My personal haul.

I was convinced by Geraldine to buy a bag of gorgeous roving simply because it was screaming my name from the corner of the booth. I do love it! All it says is "Wool" so I have no idea which type of sheep it's from. It's nice though. And don't worry, I paid G-dine back by talking her into a giant bag of yarn from Woolstock. It matched the shirt she was wearing perfectly! :-)

O.K., where was I? Oh yeah. Roving. Then, after wandering and drooling and talking myself out of so much yarn we hit Tess' Designer Yarns. I was a gonner. Giant hanks hung by color, and what amazing color! Silk, silk/wool blends, wool, etc, etc. It was a feast for the eyes...and hands. Then I stumbled on her sock yarn table. Crap!

The amazing wonders of Tess' sock yarn table.

I don't know who this woman is but God gifted her with some amazing color sense! I had an armful before I knew what I was doing. At only $15 a skein (450 yards), who can argue? I managed to pry some out of my hands and only bought 3 skeins. I kept chanting tomyself, "I can go online, I can go online, I can go online..." It was my favorite, though the Blue Moon booth was a sock yarn-stravaganza as well. I managed to refrain there. Geraldine bought me some Regia silk-blend sock yarn at the Webs booth so I'm all stocked up on sock yarn now! Not bad for a chick who, this time lastyear, didn't own a single skein of sock yarn.

So. I took cards from booths but only the ones that looked really interesting. And for your browsing pleasure, here they are:

www.tessdesigneryarns.com (the beeeest!)

www.woolstock.com (not impressed by the site, but the prices are good)

www.NeighborhoodFiberCo.com

http://www.kidhollow.com/

http://www.hempforknitting.com/

http://www.windyvalleymuskox.com/

http://www.dellysdelightsfarm.com/

www.weatherly-mize-designs.com (shawl pins)

www.justouryarn.com (nice kits)

http://www.dancingleaffarm.com/

I haven't checked all the sites yet but I figure that'll keep you busy a while.I'm trying to think of all the different vendors you'd be interested in. Blue Moon was there, Webs was there (were there?),

A small corner of the WEBS booth.

the big vendors were there (Cascade, SWTC, Skacel..) but they couldn't sell, only promote. Individual booths carried their stuff. Jojoland was there! Everybody was carrying Addis and Lantern Moon stuff. There wasn't a whole lot in the way of fiber or spinning stuff but there was enough to keep it interesting for the spinner. Like that giant shelf of "pick your own" batts sold by the ounce. You ripped off what you wanted and they weighed it. Too fun!

rip it and weigh it....mix and match

I plan on checking out some other conferences as they come along so I can compare them for you. 'Cause, you know, you never know when you'll be on the East Coast, eh?

So. How's that for TMI?

Enjoy!

-Teresa