So after Cody’s birthday dinner with his parents we made it over for the last hour at the Flying Star Stitch n Bitch. I was meeting Carole there to sell her the Yarn Noir Superwash. But I thought I’d bring the rest of my yarn because I thought the others might get jealous that I hadn’t brought any for them. Oh, ok, I’ll admit I was being mean. I knew that once they had the skeins in hand there would be a few who couldn’t resist. Especially after smelling the tantalizing combination of wool and lavender baby shampoo. It was like a big fibery tupperware party.

So I’ve sold the Melting Grape Popsicle to Scout and the Bosque Sunset to Ramona. I never got a photo of the Bosque Sunset yarn but that’s the roving I was spinning in this photo. It is very reminiscent of Manos - but shinier. One of my favorites so far. I know I say that about all of them don’t I? And a lady from a different table approached me and wants to buy the calico canine yarn for some friends of hers. Apparently she sells high-end knit items at a gallery and wants to have me sell wholesale to a yarn shop in Arroyo Seco. Wouldn’t that be cool?

So I’ve officially sold enough yarn to make up for the cost of the wheel. Plus some. Yaaay! I’m incredibly proud of this. I’m finally selling artwork. Definitely not the kind of work I would’ve expected to be producing ten years ago but it’s much less messy and sells waaaay easier. And is far less pretentious. After the holidays my big plan is to save up for a drum carder. And then! We’ll raise us a mess a’ Alpacas! Ok kidding. Or am I?

Giftmas update: I’m going to finish father-in-law fuzzyfeet tonight and probably start on Mom’s scarf. And pull out the holiday dvds. We’re putting up the tree Thursday. We had our first snow the other night. Not a lot and it didn’t stick for long but it’s been pretty chilly all week. And the smell of pinon burning in fireplaces is floating around. Winter in New Mexico.

Someone on craftster is offering an Ashford single drive spinning wheel for 250 US dollars. That’s MEGA cheap for an Ashford!

Go read her post!

It’s overcast and misty this afternoon which is weird. It was a busy week and I didn’t get much crafting or sleeping done. I did a little unexpected Thanksgiving cooking though.

This,

this,

and this

became these.

After getting that comment about rotting sausage I guess I should clarify that this is wool roving for spinning To clarify even further it’s wool from a Romney named Madison.

I also dyed this mohair yarn (overdyed over a failed previous experiment actually),

this small skein of mystery blend yarn,

and used the leftovers on this handspun I picked up at a guild exchange in July.

I haven’t taken photos of those finished yarns yet.

I have discovered a few things from all this: I prefer using the oven method (cooks faster), I need to use a lighter hand if I’m going to be using liquid dyes or it all become a gross puddle of brown, it pays to be very very generous with the vinegar and use a whole lot of kool aid, and no matter how many packets of different flavors I buy I will end up with just grape and lime in the end.

In other news I’ve put this up in the shop. We’re calling it Yarn Noir. It’s superwash.

And got a photo of my big state-of-the-art workroom (also known as the den) and spinning support staff. And my wonderful Lendrum.

The grey fluff beside Winter is not roving.

And this is what I’m spinning now.

The knitting group was fun today. It was so great to see Erin again after all the working weekends she had to endure the last few months. And it’s always fun to mellow out with Emma (always a very calming presence) and Corrine. I miss Jeannie and hope things are ok with her. And my thoughts are with Beverly (and her sister and niece and nephew) and my sister (and her husband) in Roma. Hope they get to meet for coffee while they’re both there. I love the photos from Scout and Carole’s Thanksgiving. I’m doing my best to wrangle a way to go to the SnB on Tuesday even if we have dinner plans with the in-laws. I want to show off my cables! But it’s Mr. Man’s birthday and I’m not sure if I’ll make it
I’m in the final stretch on the first sock in the Fuzzyfeet pair number 3 for the father-in-law. It’s in a Crystal Palace yarn called Labrador and it looks really homespun so it’ll felt in an interesting way. I’m trying to get the gifts for the people here finished first since I’ve found out I’m going to be flying to Bham on Xmas day. The good news is we got the house cleaned up for this week’s guests but won’t have the Xmas guests we were expecting so we can just relax and enjoy having a clean (but not obsessively cleaned for the parents) house! And I get to be with everyone on Christmas. It’s a good way to work it.

And I’ve finished my first skein on the cable scarf so that’s plugging along.

In health news all that dental work is paying off my teeth feel great! No pain or weird food traps or anything! I woke up with a cat hair or something stuck way up my nose that’s proving impossible to sneeze out so I’ve been sniffly all day. But even though it’s a grey day outside there’s yummy tea to drink, holiday knitting to do, netflix movies to watch, and cuddly pets to snuggle so I’m a pretty happy lady. Just a little sniffly.

Wonder where the yarn for my sister’s poncho is. It was a bargain (for Noro Silk Garden) but it is shipping from Canada and now I’m wondering how good an idea that really was. Oh well. I think I might have a skein or two of yarn around here somewhere…yeah one or two.

Oh and I made Hedgehog Reindeer the default skin for the site so click here if you’re still seeing a punk rock fairy or mocha hedgehog. You really don’t want to miss the hedgehog reindeer.

I’m not feeling too chatty today. I’m a busybusy little knitting spinning cleaning laundering bee. Eeep! Giftmas coming! Houseguests coming too! Panic!

So no time for too much typing but, as they (the ad execs working for kodak) say, pictures are worth a thousand words. So here goes.

Finished (but unfelted) Fuzzy Feet 2: Flashing Boogaloo.

Added some Sparkly Snow Princess yarn to the shop

Edited: which has sold in less than two hours after listing it. Ok, I’m starting to get a big head about this

And some Melting Grape Popsicle yarn too

And, oh yeah, did some CABLES!!! WOOOOO

Cables with my own handspun. I think I’m officially a cool knitter now

I haven’t been very talkative lately have I? Well, I’ve been a bit busy. I was completely (and happily) surprised when most of my yarn sold in the Etsy Shop. Then I was worried that I should spin up some more as soon as I could. Which doesn’t really jibe with the whole oh my god there are only thirty-seven knitting days until giftmas panic. But I set down the knitting long enough to spin some very interesting noodles.

I won’t say that I hope they don’t sell as quickly as the Harvest Spice did. Because realizing that my yarn sold in less than 24 hours of being listed (by a repeat customer no less!) made me squeal with such glee that the cats ran and hid, the dog started barking, and I’m sure the hedgehog gave a good huff inside her little plastic pigloo.

So here are my latest two yarns.

Sweet Potato Casserole

that’s Corriedale in shades of Creamed Sweet Potato, dark Kid Mohair sprinkled in like brown sugar, topped with Tussah Silk for the melted marshmallows. I didn’t card this myself (oh I wish I had) but I’ve found myself a hell of a custom roving source in Michigan. This was on a drop spindle. And my first time spinning silk. So it’s slubby and odd. But it’s grown on me as I set the twist and watched it dry. This stuff is soooo soft.

Calico Canine

While this has a similar color scheme to the Sweet Potato this yarn is an entirely different proposition. This is a blend of brown coopworth, black border leister wool, and golden retriever down. Yes. Golden Retriever. There’s dog hair in this here yarn! And the wools are much stiffer and more rustic. It was spun on the lendrum and is a much more consistent worsted to bulky weight. And there’s enough for a decent sweater for a small person.

Today I’m spinning another silk blend but I’m doing it on the wheel. It’s purple merino with white silk. Mmmm.

I’ve been knitting a bit though. Although I haven’t gotten as much work on the Dad scarf as I’d like.

This is all I have so far

That’s actually a washcloth pattern called flying geese but it translates well into a scarf. Although I’m thinking that I might frog (rip it, rip it) and try a different pattern since I’m not all that far along (only two pattern repeats) and I received great encouragement by Jamie and Carole at the Flying Star Stitch n Bitch on Tuesday to try cables. It really is a lot less complicated than I thought it was, I hadn’t even bothered to look into it assuming it was big and scary. And since I have just under 400 yards of this yarn I might be making this or this instead. Hmmmm. I just thought of this so I need to let that idea marinate a bit.

In the meantime I can finish my second pair of fuzzy feet. You know, the ones made from Mmmmmmmanos? Aww yeah.

The varigated part is Manos del Uruguay Stellar 110, with solid Steel 10 color on the cuffs and toes. There’s some color pooling / flashing going on. But it’s ok. There was a whole lotta pooling and flashing with the tote and it turned out nicely after it was felted. I will probably alternate skeins for the next pair to avoid this happening again though.

I cast the first sock on at the SNB Tuesday night. I got a lot of work done on it that night. It was so neat to get to go there even though Cody had to work! ManymanymanymanyMANY thanks to Beverly for driving my panic attacked driver’s butt around when Mr. Man is working These knit groups make me so happy and they’ve been really important to me, especially since Jocelyn moved to San Fran.

So I finished the first sock of pair number two last night. Got a lot done waiting in the line at the drive thru for the new Popeyes chicken place. It’s funny how these cheesy fast food restaurants that were all over the place where I grew up open here in Albuquerque and get mobbed. First the Krispy Kreme, then the Chic fil A, now the Popeyes. Of course, I’ve been just as excited as every other transplant and happily waited in line for the good stuff. We’ve driven by a few times and just weren’t up for the wait. But last night was Cody’s night off so we got some hot beverages, a book for him and the socks for me, put the dog in the back of the CR-V and we waited it out. It was worth it. YEAH it was worth it.

I cast on for the second sock last night. Turned the heel in the waiting room at the dentist’s office while Cody got some cavities filled, picked up the instep stitches in the chair between getting my new permanent crown and getting a cavity filled, and I’m in the home stretch on the foot now.

But lots of photos to post.

More Autumny yarn has been put up for sale in the shop. This one is called Harvest Spice.

This is the sweet potato yarn I mentioned last week.

I took photos of the works in progress that have been put on hold for the holiday knitting panic.

Will’s Scarf

The wonderful shawl kit from Hello Yarn with Maisy Day’s yarn

The Devan sweater for the niece (will I finish before she outgrows it?)

And the perpetually unfinished clapotis

The good news is I finished knitting and felting the bag for my mother-in-law.

Before felting

After felting

So now it just needs to dry and for me to sew in the lining.

Next: a scarf (and hat if there’s enough yarn left) for my dad knit in the muscadine wine yarn.

So I finished the hat for Mr. Tong. Since it’s his birthday tomorrow it definitely won’t make it to San Francisco in time. I thought I’d post it here and Jocelyn could choose to show it to him tomorrow, or wait until they’re visiting in a little over a week. Anyway, I took some nice photos of it today.

So about the hat. This is from some obscure short-lived Sci Fi show called Firefly (which I’ve never seen) and apparently there’s a spin off movie or movie based on it or something that’s recently come out called Serenity. Don’t ask me I’ve never seen either. I’m not a big science fiction fan. But a lot of people in my life are, including my best friend and her boyfriend, whose birthday is tomorrow. Between being a warm-natured guy (according to his girlfriend) and my not knowing him very well I didn’t have a lot of knitted present options. So when I mentioned the big thread on craftster about this hat we agreed this was what I’d make.

According to this thread and Jocelyn, there’s this cranky guy on the tv show named Jayne Cobb who wears a big silly hat knit by his mom. According to some it should be irregular and very homespun-lookin’. Well, far be it for me to not take advantage of an opportunity to spin my own yarn. So I did.

I knit one hat on Sunday, pretty much following the directions on craftster. But in the end I didn’t feel like I’d made it tall enough so today I frogged it and tried again while watching a great biography on Lucrezia Borgia and a history’s mystery show about the man in the iron mask. I made a few alterations to suit the yarn a bit better - namely, doing a k2 p2 ribbing instead of a k1 p1. It just looked better with this yarn.

It might be a bit tall now. But the earflaps were easy and the pom pom pretty much makes the hat.

This hat is very, very funny.

It’s hard to not make silly faces while wearing it. Even for the dog

Now onto the holiday knitting panic.

First up: a Fulled Lopi Tote for the mil made with Fiesta Yarns‘ Watermark and Kokopelli in (repectively) Amazon and Peony. This was bought during my first trip to a non-chain yarn store, their factory outlet store, and it’s been sitting around waiting for me to use ever since.

That’s what I’ve got this morning. I should probably go get my fuzzyfeet and put them on. But I’m too lazy. I’ve been looking at Silk Garden to make a poncho for my sister (at her request) for yulefestivusxmaskah and I finally decided on #234. A nouveau poncho in Silk Garden. Yes, I am QUEEN of LITTLE SISTERS EVERYWHERE.

ha. ha. ha.

In other news I’ve been knitting a ribbed scarf from this weird Berrocco Foliage yarn and I can’t decide if it’s really cute or just plain ugly. It’s one or the other though.

And I washed some more autumny yarn I spun from some gorgeous custom carded roving and the red yarn for the hmm hmm hat I’m knitting for my friend’s boyfriend, Mr hmm. I knit the main part of it on Sunday and I might knit another one because I don’t think the yellow part is tall enough. But the rough looking yarn seems to add to the homespun mood I’ve been told is an important aspect of the hat. I have no idea I’ve never seen the tv show. I’m getting all my information from this thread at craftster.

Not much else is going on really. On Tuesday I sold some more yarn (go me!) then got my teeth scraped and more time-released antibiotics injected into my gums. Fun! For those keeping score at home I still have a temporary crown until they finish making the permanent one, two more crowns (only one of those needs a root canal the other one had a root canal a while ago), and a cavity to fill. Will I ever be allowed to eat popcorn again? Or, more importantly (I guess) will I have any of my original teeth left?

Before I wander off here’s a cute photo of Winter in one of the rare dog shirts I’ve found in her size. (It’s not easy clothing a cold-natured shorthaired dog with a 36″ chest)

And a knitting-themed meme from Erin.

What is your all time favorite yarn to knit with?

I have a hard time with this because I enjoy different yarns for different projects. Yes I believe even synthetics and novelty yarns have their uses. But the one I get the most pleasure from knitting right now has to be yarn I’ve spun myself or Manos del Uruguay.

Your favorite needles?

A really great pair of handmade Ash size 16s I got free with some beaded yarn on Ebay.

The worst thing you’ve ever knit?

The first scarf I made. It was in speckly purple and light blue acrylic that came in a children’s learn to knit kit. All garter stitch. I was practicing changing colors with it too but only on one side so there’s no real rhyme or reason to it. It’s just awful. I’m not so much of a yarn snob as I am a color snob. It can be made out of any kind of materials as long as the colors are good. I keep being told you should never throw away your first FO but damn it’s hard to not toss it (certainly can’t burn it since it’s pretty much plastic) and delete the digital evidence. But I’ll share it anyway.

from little acorns big trees grow.

Your most favorite knit pattern?

I like the Stitch Diva Nouveau Poncho pattern. It’s a really clever design, even poncho-haters have to admit that. Their page boy hat is good too.

My other favorites are Glampyre’s One Skein Wonder (I’m looking forward to trying out her City Shawl design as well), the baby kimono from this summer’s interweave, everything I’ve tried from Last Minute Knitted Gifts has gone well and been appreciated by the receiver, and Adrian’s Fulled Lopi Tote and shawl pattern are easy to do and turn out beautifully. In fact, I’m supposed to make a tote for the mil.

So, um. Yeah. They’re all my favorites.

Most valuable knitting technique?

Hmm. Ok, my most valuable technique is to keep it fun. To not get all caught up in doing it just to impress some person or another, just have fun with it. If someone likes it, fabulous. If not, they can go knit their own shit.

Best knit book or magazine?

Hands down, Last Minute Knitted Gifts. It has the inspiring artful photographs of a coffee-table book but the patterns are all functional and turn out nicely.

Your favorite knit-a-long?

I’ve only participated in one. But it’s been pretty fun. Hopefully I’ll be able to knit more fuzzy feet when my Mmmmmmmmanos gets here.

Your favorite knitblogs?

I love my local knitblogs by Erin, Jeannie, Beverly to name just a few. These are my friends in real life too but I almost always read something I didn’t know about them or see something new they’re working on.

My other favorites are Marnie MacLean, Crazy Aunt Purl,, Fiberspace, Luscious Gracious, Decorator Crab.

I’m not very good at this choosing a single favorite thing am I?

Your favorite knitwear designer?

I like Jane Ellison’s Noro designs. Teva Durham’s designs are interesting (love that Ballet T shirt). And Glampyre’s are really clever and unique.

The knit item you wear the most? (how about a picture of it!)

I’ve worn the ballet t a lot. By itself and as it’s gotten colder as a vest.

And I’ve been wearing the La Boheme poncho a lot now that it’s cold but I don’t have a photo of me wearing that.

Well this post took longer to write than I expected. My quad latte is quite cold now.

Been a while since I’ve done a meme quiz thing. It’s been sitting in a text file on the desktop for ages so I don’t remember where I got it.

I’m drinking caffeinated tea this morning trying to wake up. I’ll be working on a certain hat today. Still need to spin the red yarn but the orange and yellow is ready, waiting, and (not to toot my own horn or anything) fabulous.

Name four books on your bookshelf:
The Artist Outsider
Look Homeward, Angel
O’Reilly’s XML in a nutshell
Being and Nothingness

Name four DVDs Movies in your collection:
Muppets from Space
The Royal Tennenbaums
The Criterion Collection version of Slacker
The Women

Name four things on your walls:
poster of Van Gogh’s Mulberry Tree painting from the Norton Simon Museum
Art Juxtaposed 2005 calendar
the dog’s feeding clock dry erase board
a (certified!) Henry Moore lithograph

Name four things in your wardrobe:
stripey socks
twelve hole doc martens
black t shirts
many many yoga pants

Name four artists in your music collection:
The Pixies
Lou Reed
The Ramones
Willie Nelson

Name four real life stores you shop at regularly:
Smith’s Grocery Store
Petsmart
Best Buy
Barnes and Noble

Name four things in your bag:
Burt’s Bees lip balm
Philosophy pure grace solid perfume
driver’s license and credit cards
a wip garter stitch scarf in striping sock yarn

Name four things in your cupboard that are in cans:
roasted and chopped green chiles
green chile stew
tomato soup
mandarin oranges

First off, I’m very happy to be home. I have fun at these annual Aunt parties but I’m also very glad they’re only once a year. So to celebrate being back home in the quiet calmness of living in a house with one other (very quiet) person and lots of (mostly quiet) pets I’m listening to the itunes random party mix.

Here’s my random ten.

Power and Glory - Lou Reed
Police Truck - Dead Kennedys
Touched by the Hand of God - New Order
Sleming and the Meaning - Stereolab
The Look of Love - Dusty Springfield
All We Ever Wanted Was Everything - Bauhaus
Candy Says - Velvet Underground
I Wanna Be Loved By You - Helen Kane
Holiday In the Sun - Sex Pistols
Blue Light - Mazzy Star

Bonus song: Am I Blue - Ethel Waters

So the usual punk / post-punk / jazz / ambient / soul mix. No country though. How odd. I did get to listen to (and sing with for a minute) “You don’t have to call me darlin’, darlin’,” on the way home. But that’s a whole other story I don’t want to get into. Suffice to say, I should know better than to discuss politics with the father-in-law. Waaaaaaay better. I think I made him mad. But he can get over it he’s the one that brought it up. Must learn to not engage. Must learn to not engage.

I wish I could’ve made it to the knitting group today. It’s nice to have a group of people I like enough to miss when I don’t get to see them every week. That’s rare for me.

I finished the October Song hat last night during the party - I ended up not using the Pithy hat pattern. The yarn wasn’t really suited for that stitch. I wanted something that would show off the tweed effect of the yarn and this is what I got. A variation on the funky page boy hat. It’s quite jaunty and warm. And reversible! So I took a few photos of me wearing it. I can’t decide which ones I like best they’re all pretty funny. These are the ones I like at this very moment.

My mouth’s doing pretty well today. It started to really hurt last night so I was good and drugged at the party. Oh, and it’s my favorite time of year in the bosque and this guy took some wonderful photos of it.