Catching up!

I have been falling behind on my blogging, it's no wonder nobody reads it. So without further adieu here is a monster "look what I've done" post.

My wheel, I've named him Wylie. Sitting there on his lazy-kate is my first navajo plied yarn. I love my wheel!

Next, my yarns. I'll just add the group shot, if you want closeups you can look at my crafster posts.

I suppose the picture loading isn't working right for me, oh well.

A couple of pics of Lola, hem still unfinished. One closeup of the necklace and belt. I loves me the belt!

The last pic is a sweater (aka the five hour sweater) I made for a friend's baby shower. I ran out of yarn and couldn't find anymore of the purple so I got the bright idea to add some fur to the ends of it. It went over well.

Yessssssssssss!!!

:::Insert maniacal laugher and odd jerky movements some might recognize as the "happy dance"::::: Oh yes indeed I am happy. Happy doesn't even begin to cover it really. I'm ecstatic, overjoyed, a little insane maybe. I GOT MY WHEEL. Oh yes my friend, I will have a wheel soon. Thanks to my honed stalking abilities, and also to the fact I can "hold it" for 45 minutes while fighting with some other person who thought they would snipe MY wheel in the last 20 minutes. Oh no, not MY wheel she won't! Okay so I'm slightly dramatic. I'm pretty darn excited. I've had "wheel fever" for while now, but this dutch company on ebay keeps selling them so cheap with hand carders, a lazy kate and even a skein winder. I won a Louet s60. squee! I wish they had a "get it now" button, kinda like the "buy it now" one. That would be sweet. Now I have to wait two weeks. Who knows what kind of madness may ensue over at Sheep Shed or the various etsy shops now that I know I will have a wheel. My LYS is getting silk hankies and more dyes. Okay, I'll quit ranting but this was news that couldn't wait! I'll post pics when I get it. Along with the pics of Lola's outfit if I ever finish it. ha.

Woo!

Alrighty then, I know I am officially a dork. I got my ravelry invite and now must decide to play on it or go to bed so I can get to church at a decent time. I don't currently even know all about what I can do on ravelry. I know there's a chat room. A CHAT ROOM for knitters!! (and Crocheters I hold love in my heart for both!) can you believe it. Though it seems slow, probably because everyone is knitting and has not figured out how to type with their face. (I personally find this a hysterical visual! A bunch of crazy fiber enthusiasts with busy hands bashing their faces into their keyboards and looking hopefully at their screen to see if they formed actual words...) Okay it's late. I'm tired but oh so excited. It's like sitting at the cool kid's table! LOL

I am in fact a clutz and a slacker

Okay, so I bet you're wondering why I would say that?? Well, first, cause it's true. I don't know if I fractured my ankle or sprained it really bad yesterday. Why is that a big deal you say? Because I was jumping off my fireplace ledge. LOL Don't ask...

Why then am I a slacker? Because I've failed miserably at my hopes to compete in Tour de Fleece. No I wasn't doping...just dopey! LOL I started off strong. I blame it on the purple beast. I had to break from it, dig out another spindle and dye some Bombyx silk to keep from going mad. Then life just got crazy. I haven't spun in like two days. The silk is lovely tho. When I can find my camera batteries ( I think they're in my cd player) I'll take a pic of it. It turned out nice w/lots of green, brown, orange, and as a nod to the Tour yellow. Though the brown and green seemed to swallow up all the other colors. Oh and wait'll you see how Lola's been dressed! ( my dress form) I got this pattern I'll edit in the number when I'm feeling less lazy, that is a totally cute 50's style dress. And it's done in a cherry pattern! I love cherries. And a big red patent leather belt! I'm in love! I just need the right shoes and jewelry! Anyway, more later.

Tour de Fleece

Okay, so it's taken me forever to start the blog I said I was going to do. I haven't had nearly as much time as I had hoped. Nor did I win the wheel I was bidding on. >:-( . I really thought I had it. Sigh...Oh well. I'm getting better on my drop spindle anyway. I have tons of purple roving. That's what I'm spinning right now. Thing is, I don't like purple. My mom is uber obsessed w/it tho, so I'm going to ply it with something lavender and make her socks for Christmas. I'm sick of purple but I have 3/4 lb , maybe less. I have lots of Sheep Shed Studio's mill ends in red tones, I love it. I may order some black so I can ply it for something for me. What I don't know, maybe something done in entrelac. I also am considering joining Spunky Eclectic's fiber of the month club. I've seen lots of beautiful stuff come from there. I want it. LOL.
So here's the purple stuff.

Yay!

I'm so excited! naelany helped me out! I needed bar thingies. I got 'em! Woot! (does anyone say that anymore? If not all the better! Why be normal??) I am beginning to like crafty blogs. Unfortunately the only crafting I'm doing is for swaps. And it would kind of give away what I was doing.

I can talk about the handspun swap a bit though. I am rather please with how things are turning out. And it's kind of weird to be able to say what I'm working on. And it just so happens that I was in my LYS and bought a bunch of roving! 1lb!! And how very fortunate for me that it was in some colors my partner would like. But that's all I have to say about that.

On a side note, I've been teaching needle arts (primarily knitting) to a bunch of kids at my kid's school. I love it so much. I'm sad that Friday was the last day. :*( But the cool part is, well there are two cool parts. #1 I get to go back next year. I will miss the girls I taught tho. Esp this one girl I'll call Sam. She was funny and different. She reveled in it though. She had a really dry sense of humor. Every time I saw her it seems she had needles and yarn in her hands! And this other littler girl, I can't even remember her name. She had SUCH a hard time knitting. The first session she actually left with her yarn in knots and in tears. It broke my heart. She was the youngest. 3rd grade I think. So the next session I sat with her the whole time. The next time I saw her she had used up all the yarn we gave her and made her mom go buy her some more. She had completed MOST of a scarf. In a week's time. Someone who the week before didn't even know how to knit. Gives me warm fuzzies. All the girls had made something by the end of teh 6th week. Most scarves, some more than 2! Okay #2 I got flowers (that were gorgeous!) a thank you card from the teacher (who was super nice) that I worked with and the students, some gorgeous wool yarn, cotton yarn, and a gift card to Joann's!! Right before a big sale! Can it get much better??? I can't wait for next year!

Help!

All right you knowledgeable people out there, I need help. If anyone actually reads this that is...ha. I want different pages, pretty ones, not these prefab ones. And I want the little bars that tell you how far along you are on a project. I want all the fun stuff I see other people having. Is there a link where I can learn how to do this? If so pleeeeeeeeeeeeease tell me. I'll be your friend forever!

On the crafting front, I have exciting news! I was at a yard sale the other day and ran across a dress form, my size for $30!! Woohoo! I have named her Lola. Lola likes it here. I haven't had time to make stuff for Lola to wear, mostly because I keep changing my mind, but I have a few jackets to cut up and recon and I just got the Anthropolgie catalog so we should be good to go soon. It amazing me how many people on Craftster have already made similar things that Anthropologie is puttin out for like $182. ick I won't say never, but man I cannot see paying that much for one top. Especially one I know I could make! I'm glad to say that wider leg pants are still around! I was having visions of looking like an Oompa Loompa w/ skinny jeans. heehee Oh an update on my 80's tribute. I found some Caron's "Shadow" that is a self-striping (of course!) yarn that is plied with a gray so it's a really muted stripe, but cool none the less. I'm half way through with what is basically a circle shrug, but may not be able to finish it in time to wear it. Bummer. Here's to hoping shrugs are still around. I think I may have figured out how to add pics so I'll take a pic and update later.

The 80's

Heh, the 80's . What a fantastic time it was. And it's even more awesome that the 80's have come back! I love everything about the 80's...well... almost. I don't love shoulder pads. And I'm iffy about leg warmers. I've been reliving my youth ( ah I've dated myself) and watching all my old favorite bands on you tube. I have to say, I almost feel sorry for some of them. I was watching White Lion ( used to thingk Mike Tramp was gorgeous.) and there's this part where he totally flips his hair and gives a "come hither" look to the camera. I still have the giggles from it. Ah the 80's cheese factor is fabulous.

I used to think that my mom sitting there going "I remember when" was ridiculous. Um...maybe it wasn't so ridiculous after all. I love my life now, but there's something to be said for reminiscing. I think I may pay tribute to the 80's some how in crafting.

....maybe knitting some leg warmers could be the start of it. Or something checker board. hmmm

Crafty Goodness

I love Crafster. My family loving Craftster...not so much. Okay my family probably wouldn't even know Craftster existed if it weren't for me going, "Just a second, I want to look at one more thing on Crafster." Or having to get up in the middle of a movie or soemthing because I finished something and have to post it on Crafster. I will probably post what I'm doing/crafting also, but for now, this will serve as a place for my swap partners to find out about me.

I love rich autumn-like colors best. Being that I'm a red-head with pale -read:lack of pigment- skin those are best for me. I love Lord of the Rings, medieval, (just not evil thanks ;-D ) art, sewing, ATCs knitting,spinning,(If you're wondering , why yes I'd LOVE a spinning wheel.) Pretty much anything you can make I'd love to try. I knit a lot. I love yarn. I want a yarn store. Not to make money, merely to justify having copious amounts of yarn with a believable excuse! Bear with me as I figure out how to make my blog a fun place to visit.