That's Not Fair!

I have somehow spent many hours crafting and don't really have anything to show for it.  I keep flitting from project to project without ever spending enough time on one to make a noticeable difference.  The main project (that hasn't been Good For Ewe knitting/pattern designing) has been this... the Shetland Snapdragon.  I have a mental block when it comes to knitting with my own handspun, so I signed up to enter a knitted item from handspun yarn in to the State Fair this year which forces me to bite the bullet and do it.  I've got a little over a month before items have to be dropped off, and the only projects not truly finished are my super-cabley mittens, my scrap-eater crochet afghan, and my hat. It's totally do-able.  I think.

So I dug out my favorite hank of handspun, a huge gray hank with subtle reds and blues.  I figured I'd have enough to make the hat AND a pair of mitts with this giant hank.  I casted on and knitted until my fingers were sore (which happened quite quickly between the cables, small needles, and tightly spun shetland).  I had about 10 hours in the hat and it occurred to me at around row 40 that I didn't have enough yarn for a matching pair of mitts- but I totally have enough to finish the hat.  I looked down a few rows later and the yarnball was tiny- what happened?  So I just started decreasing for the crown, but I've only got around 10 yards left.  I have no idea how that happened.

I had luckily saved the card that came with the fiber and emailed the farm explaining that this was my favorite color of roving in the world and if they had it, I would love to buy it and if they didn't, I would make it worth their time to make up a new batch.  I want enough of this color to make a jacket because I just love this color and think it's the best color the world has ever seen. Anyhow, I haven't heard back yet but my fingers are very tightly crossed.  Here is the hat at the moment..

When I haven't been working on the Shetland Snapdragon, I've been working on the quilt top and hitting the pavement.  I've done 2 5k races this summer so far and have another 2 to do still.  Here's the picture of a few friends and I post-Zombie Dash yesterday.

And...the quilt so far.  I had the owner of the quilt shop help me with the arrangement and pick out a backing fabric.  The fabric that's going on the bottom looks like little knit stitches, I can't wait to finish it and show you! (Madeline is hiding under one of the squares- the bulge is not a sewing mishap)

The first of the Good For Ewe yarns should come by the end of this week- keep an eye out for the biggest "project" of my life!

Dust or Knit

You know those little projects that only have a few hours to go but you somehow can't bring yourself to work on them?  I know the feeling.  I have a massively cluttery dresser in my room that should theoretically have (sitting on top of it) a music box that holds all my earrings, a few pictures, and a few  of my little sheep but recently it has taken on the responsibility of becoming the new "clutter place".   I still have these aforementioned doo-dads on the dresser, but it has also become a shrine to the small UFOs and . A potholder here, a baby sweater there, a partial sock that is so covered with bracelets and watches that it now thinks it's a jewelry box.

So this week I took them down.  Not all of them, I still have 2 projects that either need to be finished or dusted, but I'll get to those.  I'd like to share with you this week's victories.

1.  The potholders.  I started these a while ago and kept them in my purse.  Then I must have taken them out with the intention of working on them, didn't, and never put them back in the purse.  After the potholders were done, I whipped up a couple ball band warshcloths and found a little tea-towel I made a few months ago, and put them together.  True, they don't *really* match, but there's enough of a theme that I was able to call the set Gift 3 of 5 of this year's Knit It Forward.  I dropped them off to the recipient, who acted very excited to have expanded her hand-made kitchen accessories collection.   I just love knitting for other knitters- they get excited over little things like potholders and are so thankful!

2. The crochet chevron baby blanket OF DOOM.  Okay, it wasn't that bad, but it was one of those black hole projects that you can work on forever and ever and never make progress.  But I did learn how to make a crochet chevron blanket, and I know that I never have to do that again.  It's a little smaller than my usual baby blankets and it's got 25% wool in it, which scares non-knitters, so it will probably go to a baby with a fiber-loving parent.  It is crocheted at Paige-Gauge though, so it will survive being barfed on, washed a thousand times, dragged around and a zombie apocalypse. I do have 3 more balls of this yarn left and after 2 blankets in this color, I'm not tired of it yet.  It will be a nice baby sweater or something...but not for a while.

3.  The Sunny Sarasota baby cardigan.  I took this super happy ball of sock yarn to Sarasota with me in April and instead of socks, decided to make the Little Hanten baby sweater by Cheryl Oberle from the Small Wonders book I borrowed from Monica forever ago. It is really easy, I think it's pretty cute, and it eliminated one more ball of sock yarn from the stash. Unfortunately, there are roughly a billion ends to weave in when you're done.  The yarn is from Knit One Crochet Two and is mostly merino with some silk and nylon, so it will have to go to a fiber-mommy too that's not afraid to put wool on her child.  I found the super-cute button at A Good Yarn Sarasota.  It's being blocked now so it will be a little less wonky on the button-band when I give it away.

I just love the multi-directional-ness of it!

I crocheted up the sleeves and sides with a crochet slip stitch.  I love how neat it looks on the inside, and it's super sturdy.  That seam isn't going anywhere.  (I did have someone once say that my sweaters have "bones" so it's not for everyone)

And the dresser is still messy, but slightly less wooly now.

It's been a while...

It's been so long I had to take a couple tries to remember my password.  And then they've gone and changed the posting format.  It's been too long.

I've been busy.  I've been down to Florida again where I was wearing the latest styles in bird hats...

I've been taking a quilting class...

I've been working on Good For Ewe (which is the company I'm starting with my Dad in case you missed the announcement.) We're on facebook and ravelry or you can always email me at paige@goodforeweyarn.com if you have any questions.  Yarns should be here at the start of July.

I fixed a birdhouse that my Grandpa made a while ago and it was starting to rot and fall apart...

I've been knitting a bit...

I even finished a project!  Here is my completed Lyra shawl in Knit Picks Shadow.  I used about 3 1/2 hanks and while I loved every stitch (except the cabled flowers) I am glad it's over.  It's name is Sassenach, which is Gaelic for "Outlander", the book series to which I have been addicted for the past 8 months. When it's done blocking, I'll take it outside for a proper photo-shoot.

And I've really just not been feeling very well lately and didn't really feel like writing.  Yesterday I had a right heart cath done (where they stick a tube up your veins from the inside of your hip until they reach your heart.) So yesterday I just slept a lot, knitted a bit and barfed a few times from the drugs wearing off. Today I went to Costco with my mom where I moved at approximately the speed of a snail while wishing I could go back to bed.  I'm sore and groggy and would like this week to be over so I can pick up things that are more than 5 pounds again because Madeline thinks I don't love her any more since I can't hold her.