Strings & Yarn

I’ve signed up for Mystery Stole 3!  It’s such a great idea and Melanie has beautiful designs.  Unfortunatly, I don’t think I have the right yarn for this project (or beads) so I’ll be doing a quick yarn shopping.  I’ve found some great stuff on-line.  I love how reasonable the lace weight yarns are.

The first clue has been given, and sign ups end on Friday (I think).  If you’re intersted, go sign up!

We are so close to finishing our biggest house project yet!  We have put tile in the bedroom/hallway, and now all we need is some carpet for the rest! (Which we already have and has been waiting to be installed for about 6 months now.)  We have since put down the grout, but I don’t have any pics yet.

Of course, the obligatory before photo.

And some the after

We put mosaic tiles next to the hearth pad and the sliding glass doors.  These spaces seemed to small to bother with acurrate cutting, so we went for a much more artistic look.  Anthony really enjoyed busting up all the tile.

Here you can see pretty much the whole thing.  Of course we could have had all that gooey stuff on the floor without one little mess.

Black Sheep was awesome!  I had even more fun this year, than last and I have to say it’s because shopping was a minor part of the experience.  First Sheep to Shawl!

I was one of the spinners for our team.  It was so much fun (as I’m sure you can tell by that picture) and I’m feeling ready to do it again!  Even though our shawl turned out to be quite an adventure.

Can you see Sara through the loom?  Our loom was the main problem.  It’s very old, and kept breaking.  Of course, a loom that continues to break is going to slow down the weaving process dramatically, and that really doesn’t help when speed is a major factor to the competition.

Here Sara and I are threating the loom to keep it in order, which did seem to work for awhile.  Time was getting close here, and I spent the last portion on the floor fixing the loom when it broke to save time.

The shawl did make it off the loom though, and we had five minutes to put the finishing touches on the shawl.  I have to say that at this time, it was pretty high action.  I didn’t care so much if we won, I just wanted to finish!

We did (I’m not sure how, and it may not have been perfect) get the shawl done in time for the judging.  It was a few inches short, and that took us out of the running for placing in the contest.  The other three teams had all finished at least an hour before us.  I really like the design that Sara and Miriam picked out.  The brown was from a Shetland sheep named Electra.  It was very easy to spin and made a beautiful yarn.

This is a close up of the huck lace design pattern we used.  Don’t I sound like I know what I’m talking about?  I don’t.  Weaving is a little less of a mystery after this, but I still don’t know much about it.  I will leave the weaving to Sara, she did a great job, and I can’t believe it got finished in time.

Of course no contest would be complete without a team photo.  Go Sinister Spinsters!

We all know the boyfriend curse.  Can’t knit a sweater, blah, blah, blah.  Well I’ve decided to ignore the curse, and I have a feeling it’s going to turn out okay.  I’ve been working on some handspun for awhile

This is a 2-ply DK weight yarn that is mostly wool with some silk blended in.  It’s pretty soft, and has a tweedy look from the silk.  I have some Rowan Tweed I’ll be pairing with this for the sleeves, and it may even end up as a pattern written up.  However, we know I haven’t been very prompt at writing up the patterns lately.

This is some yarn that Anthony connected with in the store, so how was I going to refuse!  We stopped into Village Wools in Albuquerque and he found this.  We also found some awesome buttons that fit him perfectly.

There was a reason his first pair of socks were named Globe Trotters.  I guess I need to get knitting some sweaters!

Yeah! It’s time for Black Sheep again! This year I’ll be doing way more than last year. As you may recall, I got my wheel last year at Black Sheep. We have become dear friends, and it’s time to give the true test of our relationship.

I’m going to be competing in the Sheep to Shawl contest on Friday. There are up to 5 spinners and one weaver on each team, and we have to completely spin and weave the weft from 9am to 2pm. It should be a lot of fun, and I have an awesome team.

Then on Saturday, I’m volunteering for the fleece sale. It starts at 1(?) and goes to 5. It doesn’t give me a ton of time to shop, but I’m okay with that because I have plenty to work with over the next year. Don’t worry, I’m sure something will make its way home with me, just not as much as last year.

If you are planning to be around, please e-mail me, leave a comment, or come find me at the event! I would love to meet up with some of the awesome bloggers out there!

I’ve finished my Hedera Socks.

Overall I’m very happy with them.  There are very few patterns that I would consider doing over again, but this is one of them.  I wore them a few days ago, and they didn’t want to stay up very well.  This lace is just very stretchy!

I’m very happy with the Lorna’s Laces, and if I found some more in a color I liked I would definitely buy it again.  This skein worked out perfect for Project Spectrum, and I like how it looked with the simple lace pattern.

I’ve already finished my first sock for another pattern.

This is the Boyfriend sock by Alice Bell of Slipped Stitch.  I wouldn’t have found this pattern without Ravelry, which by the way I continue to be addicted to.  This is a great pattern, and I’ll be sure to share the full picture soon.  I did change the toe.  This is the rounded toe that I talked about here.  The yarn is Claudia Handpaint in Argyle Sock and it is perfect for June/July Project Spectrum.  The bag is one I made back when I did the Knit Mitt Kit Swap, and I have used it for many projects.  It’s way better than a ziplock.

I’ve been working on catching up all week with e-mails, organizing photos, dealing with my new obsession for ravelry and reading blog posts.  I can’t seem to keep the to-read list under 200 for very long.  I think it means some of the posts will have to be sacrificed.  If I can’t get to them by the end of next week, we’ll have to start fresh.

I have some pictures of my garden!

Tall Pea Plants and some Beans.

Peas up close.  Yummy!

This is my newest plant.  A studnet gave it to me, because they know what a fiber geek I am.  It is Madder, and when it grows up I will be able to use some of the roots to dye fiber a beautiful red color.  I think it’s very happy about finally being put in the ground.

I’ve been so busy the last few weeks because I was out of town! We went to Albuquerque for a few days, Chama area (northern New Mexico) for a wedding, and then to San Jose/Bay area for a week. It feels good to be back, and we’ve spent the day hanging out at home and relaxing.

All this traveling has marked the beginning of my summer! I’m glad it’s here, it means more yarn and knitting time. Plus we have several fun small trips and family coming to visit this summer.

I’m sure I’ll be writing more about the trips, but I wanted to share the finished blanket.

That’s me in the log cabin we stayed in, wearing the log cabin blanket I made. I used a combination of Merino Style, Cascade 220 Heathers, and some of my own handspun. I didn’t get a chance to block it, but I explained that to Lauren. It should get a little bigger after blocking.  This blanket was nothing but adventure.  Knitting it in two + weeks.  It ended up going to every restaurant and car ride during the trip.  I also had problems with running out of yarn.  However, I did finish it on time, and was able to wrap it.  I did have to yell “don’t come into the cabin!” a few times to make sure Lauren hadn’t seen it before hand.
I’ll leave you with one of my favorite pictures of my friend Lauren and I, having fun at the reception.

I just set up my profile. Granted, it isn’t very much yet, but it’s getting there. I have to say that it is very easy to work with, and very quick to use. I’m really impressed with the style and ease of adding, deleting and editing.

Go check me out! Violinjodie at Ravelry

Sorry about the lack of communication over here. It’s been quite busy. Thanks for the wonderful comments on the bike, and I promise some great garden updates for next week. I have tons of stuff to share too! We’ve had a great week last week, and lots of secret stuff this week too!